TFP - Freezing Absence

20. Darker

'I'm not giving up,' Flare assured herself. She stood up from the blow that had knocked her down, body straining. Fighting wasn't her style, but it was the only thing that kept her mind busy as of late. Leaping up, Flare drew her weapons, clashing against Bulkhead as he blocked her blows. Metal clanged, and Bulkhead was stronger, but Flare was faster. 'I'll find you. Wait for me.'

~~~

"Shockwave," Megatron growled, treading into the scientist's lab. "How is progress of the weapon?"

"It won't be much longer, Lord Megatron," the purple mech answered, continuing to work. "If I continue working at this pace, the weapon will be prepared in three Earth solar cycles. And the rebirth of this pitiful planet will be underway at last."

"Good. You have served me well, Shockwave." Without another word, the warlord strode back out of the lab, unwilling to inhibit the progression of the weapon even slightly. Soon, very soon, this planet would feel his rage.

And Primus himself would recoil in fear for having the nerve to take away his mate and his sparkling.

As he walked down the halls, Megatron paused at an intersection, the silent spy standing in the adjacent hallway, watching him. Standing still a moment, Megatron refused to look at the slender mech. "Do you question my actions, Soundwave?"

Soundwave didn't say a word, didn't replay anything at all, just stood, and watched.

"This is war, Soundwave. I am not here to make friends, I am here to conquer, to find a way for the strong and the worthy to survive. The Decepticons will prevail at any cost!"

Another moment passed of silence, the tension in Megatron's body evident. At last, Soundwave played a recording. One of Megatron's lost sparkling.

"He's not a bad mech. Just misunderstood... I love him."

At that, Megatron lost his control. Within seconds, he had Soundwave pinned to the wall, hand wrapped firmly around the spy's throat. Soundwave did not struggle, he showed no sign of pain. No, the quiet mech had expected this as warning for playing the voice of Flare, and something so sentimental.

The rage in Megatron's optics set them ablaze. "If you dare play her voice in my presence again, Soundwave, I will rip out your spark regardless of the time we spent in the Pits together. Do you understand?"

No expression passed over Soundwave's faceplate covering, no recording played, no video. Still, Megatron took the silence as an understanding. Releasing his hold, Megatron stalked away, returning to his quarters, his spark aching, though he'd be damned if he showed it.

~~~

Flare's venting was ragged, her cooling systems hard at work. For hours now, she'd been sparring. Against Bumblebee, Bulkhead, even Arcee. Not much was said between them, and Flare felt more exhausted than she let on, but it was all she could do to keep herself occupied.

Perhaps, if she was tired enough, she could slip into the darkness for a while and emerge refreshed, rather than drained.

'I'm trying,' Flare thought, blocking a blow only to return one that hit its mark. 'I'm trying so hard, Mommy.' As the match was called to an end, Flare took her time to regain herself, to cool her body back down.

It only took one glance at the fresh paint chips on her knuckles and blades for Flare to lose her control.

Falling to her knees, Flare's body reacted violently. Energon forced its way out of her mouth, darker than the usual shade.

Suddenly, everything hurt. Everything in Flare's body ached as it revolted against her, rejecting the things she'd done and the implications of her actions. Fighting. She'd been fighting. And she had fought hard enough to chip paint. She could've hurt someone. Primus, what was she thinking? Even if it was just sparring, Flare had never fought so hard in her life, and it had come so naturally.

"You should've gone for the kill," the voice whispered to her in her weakness. "You'd make your father proud. Maybe then he'd finally love you."

Flare tried to muster the will to tell it to shut up, but the ache spreading through her and the energon flooding her throat was consuming her thoughts. Somewhere, she thought she could hear her name being called.

"There's no saving him now. He's too far gone, even to you. Nothing will bring him back to the mech he was."

'Liar.' Again, energon flooded out of her mouth, her body rejecting the substance. Even if she wanted to, Flare couldn't muster the strength to speak, to ask for aid. Diluted energon slipped down her cheeks in her agony.

"You've become a monster, just like them. Soon enough, you'll kill, and you'll relish in it."

'Stop.' Body tightening, Flare seized against the impulses shaking through her body. 'Daddy.'

The darkness claimed her quickly.

~~~

"Daddy!" Flare rushed for her sire through the crowded Pits. This time, she was stuck in the stands, fighting her way through the crowds that were cheering for energon to be spilled, for death to come.

They were sickening, and even here, Flare swore she could feel energon trickling against the corner of her mouth.

"Daddy!" Forcing her way through, Flare could feel him, the grief he carried.

But now, it was overpowered by rage. Hatred. And even though she loved him, part of Flare was afraid. Not for herself. She didn't care about that anymore.

Flare was afraid for him, and this planet she now inhabited. What would he do in his rage?

She saw the weapon raise, saw him swing it down. Flare's spark stopped as the energon pooled around his peds.

"Daddy . . ." The word was a whisper now. Flare knew what his past had been, but knowing it and seeing it were two very different things. He surveyed the crowd as they cheered for his conquest.

His gaze stopped when he saw her.

"No more," Flare whispered, even though she knew he couldn't hear it. "No more." It was a quiet plea for the pain, the war, the bloodshed to stop.

But it fell on deaf receptors.

"Traitor!" Megatron screamed as he saw her, leaping high and climbing out of the Pits within seconds, pinning his sparkling as the spectators ran. "You filthy traitor!" The crimson in his optics glowed brighter, she thought, as he raised his fist above her helm. "I'll rip out your twisted spark with the rest of those foolish Autobots!"

Diluted energon lined the edge of Flare's optics as one hand pushed against her throat, the other readying a strike that was sure to leave her aching when she woke.

"Please no more," she choked out. "Da-." The word, that hated word of affection, was cut off as soon as it formed, Megatron tightening his grip to stop her from saying it.

"I'll put you out of your misery as soon as I find you," he muttered, remorse seeping its way into his spark, but he quickly shoved it aside. She had betrayed him. Left him.

His fist began to descend, and Flare squeezed her optics shut, preparing for the blow that would come.

But it didn't. After a few moments, Flare managed to open an optic, only to see Megatron's digit sliding across her faceplate.

Energon stained where he'd touched her, and Flare could see the grief seep into his optics again as he examined the discolored energon. "What . . . ?" For the moment, confusion took over, and his grip on her throat loosened.

Memories came flooding back to him, and Megatron shouted his anguish. It only took a moment before his optics locked onto her again, his grip tighter than before, his fist shaking as he pulled it back again.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"