“I must be pretty special if you were willing to follow me all the way up here,” Crimson still kept her voice in a low tone. She was waiting for the perfect moment to expose who she really was to them.
“I don’t know who the frag you are, quite frankly I don’t care but if you want to be unharmed I suggest getting into the blue vehicle”
“Why do I get him ?” Breakdown complained, his holoform shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. He had a holoform that reflected him very well, with a muscular upper body and bright yellow eyes to match his optics.
Crimson took a step closer then bit her lip under her helmet, she was mad at herself for the plan she came up with but she knew it would work just fine. She knew she looked..nice enough to capture their attention long enough to make a quick escape. “Now, who said I was man ?” She changed her voice back to her normal tone and pulled off her helmet.
“I-..Crimson ?”
“Aw, you know my name. That’s a change…Most of you just call me ‘girl’ or ‘human’ when you see me.” Crimson could see Knockout’ and Breakdown’ holoforms watching her intently. She took a deep breath then placed her hand on Breakdown’s shoulder and slid it down his chest. She glanced at Knockout who was quick to walk over to the two and send her a warm smile.
“So I’m guessing you two are going to take me back to your leader now,” the two glanced at each other then shook their heads.
Crimson wickedly smirked, “good to know,” she pushed Breakdown’s holoform back and grabbed Knockout’ arm pulling him along, she pushed them both against the front of Breakdown’ alt mode and planned her next move.
“..So who wants the first kiss ?” Crimson smiled and waited, the two stayed quiet giving her the option to chose. She laughed then leaned towards Breakdown’ holoform.
“Can’t I get a kiss ?” Crimson lost her footing and fell onto Breakdown’s chest, his strong arms folded around her and turned her around to face the one person she didn’t want to see. She let her head fall to the ground as he spoke to her in his evil, nasty tone.
“A good plan..for a Autobot, that’s if of course you still are one of them”
“Of course I am, I wouldn’t switch sides for you or anyone else ! I rather be offlined !” She spit at him, he tightly wrapped his hand around her neck, his grip was stronger then she imagined it would be.
“That could be arranged,” he tighten his grip around her neck again. She made a soft cry as it started getting harder to breathe, she could feel her heart skipping beats the longer he held her there.
“Starscream stop !” Knockout cried out, he let go of her neck and pushed her down onto the ground out of Breakdown’s strong grip.
“Get up !” Starscream kicked her in the stomach then pushed her onto her back and stomped on her ribs. A part of him hated being so harsh to her but he knew if he started being nice to her he would no longer be at Megatron’s side. He had to be rude to keep his title as being a Decepticon, if he showed even a small piece of kindness his rank would be affected.
“As you wish,” Crimson got up and grabbed him by the neck and shocked him until his holoform fell unconscious onto the ground. She wiped the blood spilling from her mouth and climbed onto her bike, she sped past Knockout and Breakdown. She flew down the hill, not bothering to look back or even stop.
“Ratchet..Ground bridge,” She continued driving forward until she saw the ground bridge and drove through. She slammed onto the brakes as she got into the base, she made it up the stairs then collapsed. The last thing she saw was Wheeljack’s holoform picking her up and carrying her into her room.
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“You’re a fool to leave ! Just like your brother !” Starscream shouted as the blue mech grabbed his weapons and walked out to his ship. Starscream wasn’t mad at him for leaving. He was furious.
“He is the one who executed my father Starscream. Watching one’s father being sentenced to death in front of them is not a easy task. He will pay for executing my father, he must.” The blue mech turned away from Starscream and continued walking to his ship. He felt a hint of pain as Starscream followed behind him, yelling at him to stay.
“Megatron has appointed me as his new Second in Command, if you leave then I suppose we’ll just forget one another ! I’m leaving to meet with Megatron and the other Decepticon’s on Earth in a month !” Starscream snarled.
The blue mech growled then grabbed Starscream and pushed him against the side of his ship. He was taller then Starscream but not as slim, he was much like his father. A larger and more muscular like frame. “Starscream, I will see you again. This I promise you,” without another word he leaned down to the seeker and gently kissed him.
“How dare you, you don’t know if you’ll survive ! He might kill you for all you know !” Starscream didn’t mind the kiss or even the fake promise, it was his fear that kept him arguing with the larger blue seeker.
“Starscream..” He pressed his chassis against Starscream’s, “Trust me, like I trust you to find my sister,” he pulled back from Starscream and smiled. He could see Starscream wanted to smile but still kept it hidden.
“I will find her,” Starscream grabbed the mech’s hand and pulled him back for one last kiss goodbye. His spark ached as he watched the mech get on his ship and leave Cybertron in hopes of finding his father’s killer.
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The memories had slowed down for Crimson shortly after she started going on scouting missions with the others. It’s been two weeks since she had her run in with Knockout, Breakdown and Starscream. Ratchet was still a little skeptical about her leaving base by herself but everyone else was able to see Crimson could handle her own.
She’d gotten better at controlling her powers and using them to help her while in combat but it all crashed when she was with Wheeljack. He made her feel so calm and happy she’d forget everything she knew about controlling her powers. Crimson hated herself for being so weak around him but it was almost impossible to ignore, during the day she kept herself busy to keep from being distracted.
Crimson had began telling herself after her run in with Knockout, Breakdown and Starscream that everything would be a secret to her. No one would know about the love she had for Wheeljack or how much she cared for the other Autobots, she would hide her feelings on the battlefield. Inside she knew the Decepticons could easily use Wheeljack or another member from team Prime to hurt Crimson.
“Crimson ! It’s noon, let’s get a move on already !” Crimson jumped onto Wheeljack’ shoulder. She was going on another scouting mission with Wheeljack and Arcee today. Crimson was always hopeful they would find a energon deposit, she might not be fully Cybertronian but she could clearly understand how important energon is to them.
Crimson and Jack were put on the ground after getting through the ground bridge, they walked behind Arcee and Wheeljack in hopes of staying out of their way. Crimson could hear Arcee talking to Wheeljack about Cliffjumper, her voice in between strong and weak.
“Crimson, you okay ?” Arcee could see the look in Crimson’s face and stopped walking to check on her.
“Yeah, just remembering. About Cliff..We should keep moving. C’mon,” Arcee curtly nodded then kept walking. Crimson pushed the memories with Cliffjumper aside to focus, she managed to jump onto Wheeljack’s shoulder and relax a little to make it easier for her to, hopefully, focus on her senses.
They had been walking for a almost a hour and had finally caught onto a energy signature, Crimson jumped down from Wheeljack’ shoulder and raced ahead of them. Crimson waited for them to catch up before running further ahead to find the source of the energy signature. From behind her she could hear Wheeljack yelling at her to slow down and wait for them.
“Cri, stop,” Crimson skidded to a halt as she heard Wheeljack for a third time, she was amazed at how far she had gotten in such a short amount of time. She turned her back to the other’s and listened in as she saw Breakdown come out of a large cave with Knockout.
“Starscream, the energon’s all there. Can we leave yet ?”
“No, I’ve just received word that the filthy Autobot’s are coming to the mine. So we have to protect it,” Crimson turned around and quietly backed away from the hill. She ran back towards Wheeljack and Arcee, luckily they weren’t as far away anymore. Crimson jumped onto Wheeljack’s shoulder and made him stop walking to listen to what she had to report.
“They know you’re coming, Starscream is waiting for you at their mine”
“Arcee, comm for reinforcements. Cri, I need you to keep em’ busy until the other’s get here..Still got that earpiece right ?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the distraction under control,” Crimson leaped onto the ground below and ran back to the hill. In her mind she played scenario after scenario to keep the three of them distracted from a potential attack from the Autobots. Crimson skidded down the hill then hid behind a rock, she still wasn’t sure what she was doing yet.
“Starscream ?” She asked in a smooth tone, she could hear his footsteps walking closer to the rock, she smiled as she saw him stand over with a wicked grin on his face. “Think you can..catch me ?” She laughed then jumped over the rock and towards Knockout and Breakdown. As Breakdown tried to grab her she shocked him and ran away from Knockout.
Wheeljack heard the ground bridge open behind them, he wasted no time and explained what Crimson was doing to Optimus. “We need to help her before any true damage can be done to her,” Optimus said in a swift but soft tone. Wheeljack grabbed his swords and ran towards the hill, stopping at the edge to observe how Crimson had been doing on her own for the past twenty minutes.
Crimson’s body collided with the ground face first, a hint of blood could be seen spilling from her mouth and plenty of bruises coated her arms. Three holoform’s surrounded her, each had wicked smiles on their faces as Crimson tried pushing herself off the ground.
“Let’s move Autobot’s,” Wheeljack jumped down and started beating on Starscream, his holoform briskly shut off so he could focus on Wheeljack and protect himself from his attacks.
“Cri ?”
“Fine, I’m fine !” Crimson got up and hid behind a rock with Jack to try and build up her energy again. Most of it was used to fight off the three Decepticon’s before the other’s showed up. Crimson heard a ground bridge open from the other side of the rock, sure enough Airachnid and a group of vehicon’s came through to help Starscream.
Crimson saw Airachnid aiming for Arcee and made a split decision, she jumped over the rock and ran behind Airachnid. With what energy she had left in her she used to shock Airachnid, Crimson sighed in relief as Airachnid fell to her hands and knee’s. She laid there frozen in pain, Crimson kneeled down onto one knee to relax for a klick.
“Nice job kid,” Breakdown’s hand came swooping down in front of her but she managed to move at the last second and dodge it. Crimson could hear him following behind her, she tried to bring up a wall but she didn’t have enough energy. She ran into the energon mine, Breakdown shortly behind her.
Wheeljack saw Crimson run inside the mine with Breakdown behind her which caused for distraction. Starscream managed to get Wheeljack knocked onto his aft and aim his weapon at his spark chamber. Wheeljack looked up at Starscream and shook his helm, “Go ahead. Take my spark you weak scrap metal,” Starscream growled.
“Wheeljack !” Arcee shot Starscream’s arm causing his aim to be misdirected at the front of the mine, she shot his arm again. His missile launched to the mine and hit the top of the mine. Silence fell over the area as the front of the mine collapsed into a pile of rubble. Starscream instantly panicked, if Megatron found out what happened he’d be melted down into scrap metal.
“Starscream do something ! Breakdown’s trapped inside of there !” Knockout cried out as he dodged another attack from Bumblebee. Starscream kicked Wheeljack then transformed and left the area as quickly as he could manage. Fear over consuming him, he had failed to capture the girl three times already, this would be the fourth. He knew if he came back empty handed Megatron wouldn’t be so kind to give him another chance.
Crimson coughed as dust covered the area she was in, she looked around her and found she was blocked off from going anywhere due to the rocks all around her. She managed to find a small crevice for her to climb through, her first thought was to find a way out of here, her second was to find Breakdown.
Outside the cave all other Decepticon’s had left, Knockout stayed behind to help find Breakdown. Knockout knew they would be back with Megatron shortly, if not then the blame would go onto Starscream.
“Just know we aren’t partners. I’m doing this to get Breakdown out of there,” Knockout put his hands on his hips as he spoke, getting a laugh from Wheeljack and Bulkhead. Optimus took a step back to think about how to carefully move the rubble to get inside while Wheeljack took a different approach. He grabbed a timed grenade and chucked it at the wall of rubble.
Crimson could hear small grunts and ran closer to them, she knew who it was and why she should avoid him but what else was she going to do. She was stuck in a cave with no water, no food and limited air. Her only option was Breakdown, she heard the rock’s in the mine shifting again and ran faster to the grunting sounds.
“Breakdown ?” He scoffed and turned around to face her, he was slowly digging his way out in front of him. Crimson genuinely smiled and sighed in relief. Breakdown turned back to the wall and continued moving rocks one by one to try and get them out of the cave.
“Good to know you could easily find me,” Breakdown said as he continued moving rocks aside. Crimson lightly laughed then sat down, she needed to relax to try and get back what energy she could. It made it harder for her since she didn’t have her ration of energon this morning either. She looked up as she felt bits and pieces of rock falling from the ceiling, she could hear rocks shifting above them. She heard a loud explosion then the ceiling began collapsing in on the two.
“Breakdown !” He quickly moved to sit on his hands and knee’s, Crimson was under his chassis to shelter her from the falling rocks. He could feel a strain on himself but he knew the consequences if he let go now. He heard the rocks finally stop but now they were even move blocked in the small area. He looked down at Crimson and could see something in her right side along with blood stains on her shirt.
Crimson slowly opened her eyes, she couldn’t see anything but Breakdown’s chassis now. She moaned as she ran her hand over the sharp rock in her side, she could feel the blood on her shirt and rolling down her side now. From somewhere in the cave Crimson could hear voices, Optimus, Bulkhead and Knockout.
“Breakdown. Someone’s coming..” her voice was falling flat and her breath’s became slower. Breakdown turned on his holoform and snaked his arm behind her neck. He held her against his chest and made her keep looking at him, his one fear being her death. He could hear rock’s shifting and Knockout yelling his name, Breakdown continued yelling back while keeping his holoform on for Crimson.
“I’m taking off your shirt to see how deep the rock’s in okay ?”
“..Wow, you..asked..” Crimson tried to joke around but she felt so tired and weak it didn’t even seem funny to her. Breakdown laughed, which helped her smile just a tad.
“Don’t move,” Breakdown used his switch blade and cut her shirt straight down the middle and gently pulled it off her body. He rolled the shirt up into a ball and started wiping away what blood he could, Crimson tightly gripped his arm as he tried pulling the rock out. He kept one hand on the rock in her side and put his other hand next to her head.
Breakdown started to panic on the inside as he saw the weakness in Crimson’s eyes, he made her look at him and talk to him. He knew if she died the blame would go on him, Megatron wouldn’t hesitate to kill him or anyone else who was involved in Crimson’s death.
“Can I get a kiss ?” Breakdown was trying to keep her talking, laughing, anything but dying. Crimson laughed and ran a hand down his face.
“You’re cute..but I..do have someone..special..” Her words were broken up and her breath’s started coming slower. Two things came to Breakdown’s mind, either she was going to fall unconscious or she’d die in his arms. He didn’t want either one but he couldn’t do much to help her while being stuck in a collapsed mine.
“And here I was thinking maybe I’d get lucky,” Breakdown scooted his face closer to her’s and smirked, “Just one kiss ?” He asked again in a soft tone.
To his surprise she gave a curt nod and snaked her arm behind his neck. Breakdown wasn’t rough about the kiss, if anything it was gentle which was shocking to Crimson. He pressed his lips to her’s for one kiss but it escalated into something more.
He took the heated kiss they were engaged in as his one chance to remove the rock from her side. He gripped onto the rock and with one quick move of his arm the rock was pulled out and thrown to the side. Crimson broke the kiss and screamed in pain, Breakdown grabbed the shirt and pressed it against her side again.
“See, that wasn’t all bad,” Crimson shook her head and fell back onto the ground. A part of her wanted to kiss him again but the more she thought about it the more she realized that kiss was a distraction for him to pull out the rock.
“So..that was..a good distraction”
“I try,” Breakdown could hear rocks shifting behind him. He switched off his holoform and started yelling at the rock wall in hopes of someone responding to him. “Knockout ? I’ve got the girl here,” more rocks shifted before he finally got a response.
“Breakdown, we are making our way through the wall, keep her safe until we can get through.” Breakdown wasn’t thrilled about Optimus being the one to save them but it meant she wouldn’t die and he wouldn’t be killed. He turned on his holoform again and continued putting pressure on the wound, he kept staring at her, his mind scattered over everything.
“Wha-..What are you..staring at ?”
“You,” He smiled and laid her head on his lap as he continued looking at the purple shade in her eyes and the soft smile on her face. He wanted to kiss her again but he decided not to for fear she’d used what energy she had left to shock him or kill him. He turned his head as he saw Knockout’s arm punch through the rubble, he turned off his holoform and smiled.
“Great timing,” Breakdown groaned as his arms shook and his body fell closer to the ground. “Knockout get her out of here,” Knockout reached for Crimson but she shook her head and scooted away from his hand.
“I’m not..leaving him..”
“Crimson, we must leave. You are badly injured. Wheeljack and Bulkhead have offered to help Breakdown.” Crimson looked up at Breakdown and smiled, he smiled back then moved his helm toward Optimus.
“I’ll be fine, go.” Crimson scooted closer to Optimus’ hand, he quickly grabbed her and carried her out of the collapsed mine. Crimson looked back where she came from and felt a ache in her chest. She wanted to help Breakdown get out but what could she do, she was almost broken herself. As the reached the edge of the mine everything became a blur for her, she heard Wheeljack and Bulkhead running past her. Everything faded into black after that.
Optimus sprinted through the ground bridge with Crimson in his hand, he set her down on the balcony next to June and took a step back. Optimus could see the worry in June’s eyes as she grabbed Crimson’s wrist. Optimus felt horrible knowing they might lose Crimson because he wasn’t fast enough.
“We have to get her to a hospital. Now !” Bumblebee opened his door for Ratchet’s holoform to place Crimson inside. June climbed into the driver’s side and within seconds Bumblebee was out of the base and speeding towards Jasper. June continued holding the shirt against Crimson’s side to keep pressure on the wound. Fear running through her with every second on the road to Jasper.
Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with other family activities and couldn't find the time to update ! Hope you liked the chapter ! <3