PROMISE ME

"Take me over now."

⬵⤁

"He stole June?!"

    "That's what I said," Arcee snapped. "I don't know how he found her, or exactly why. He said Jack needed medical supplies and June agreed to help; but I don't know how much agreement there was in that situation. Now he has both Jack and June, doing only the Allspark knows what."

    Agent Fowler looked ready to tear out his hair, Optimus Prime deeply troubled by this new development. Megatron had shown restraint for the majority of the war on Earth; it was concerning that now he was targeting humans and using his mass displacement abilities to do so with ease. Of all the humans June was perhaps the one with the least amount of contact, the most innocence, and yet the Decepticons would not understand that. To them, any human who laid eyes upon them was guilty of the same crime.

    "This is getting out of hand, Prime," Fowler was clearly in distress. "If General Bryce gets wind that the Decepticons are winning, and taking human hostages, this whole operation could all be over. We can't just sit back and run around looking for relics. We have to take action!"

    "Taking action would only result in the loss of more lives, even human ones," Optimus said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Megatron has become increasingly unpredictable, and I fear for the lives of our other human allies, Miko and Rafael."

    "You're not saying we should bring them here?"

    "That may be our only option."

    "Prime!" Agent Fowler slammed his fist on the railing. "These are kids we're talking about, children! We can't just pull them out of school and their lives because we think Megatron may be targeting humans. If that was the case, why not just snatch up any and all humans?"

    "Megatron isn't stupid," Arcee snapped back, defensive of her leader despite the shortcomings she has had with him. "He knows we'll do more, risk more, for human lives we've grown to care about. As much as I would rather they didn't have to come here, protecting Miko and Raf is our top priority. And if it means keeping them here at our base, then so be it."

    "It'll be like those . . . uuuhhhhh . . . sleepovers!" Bulkhead posited, trying to help even with his limited processor power. "Something temporary, and fun, but also keeping them safe."

    Agent Fowler was far from pleased, but even he could see the logic in that. He hated the idea of plucking Miko and Raf from their lives, lying to their families, all for the sake of keeping them safe and out of harm's way. Raf already had to move once, and he knew the kid would hate to do it again. Especially considering his family believed they were already at government risk.

    He hated, hated, hated it. Yet it seemed to be their only option.

    "What am I going to tell their parents? Host parents?" He demanded to know.

    Optimus Prime faltered at that, taking time to think. "I . . . do not know, Agent Fowler," he said finally, his spark stuttering with guilt. "Surely your government may provide an explanation that will satisfy them?"

    "They can come up with something," the Agent said bitterly. "But they won't like it. Especially considering we're taking their kids."

    It was as if the man could not reiterate enough that these were not grown adults, capable of making their own decisions, that they were discussing. All the Autobots had known for a long time was war; thus, the idea of jumping through hoops to get unaware civilians to safety never truly crossed their minds. They had forgotten what it meant to have children involved.

    "Megatron is making it difficult for us to explore other options," Optimus rumbled softly. "I wish things did not have to be this way, Agent Fowler."

    "Yeah, me too," the man pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll see what I can do. But nobody is going to be happy about this."

    "Well, maybe Miko will," Arcee replied tartly, her servos on her hips. The Agent didn't laugh, instead turning around and entering his office to make a few phone calls.

    Optimus turned to the computer system, staring at the screens before closing his optics in quiet frustration. The Autobots were able to retrieve these relics, but they were useless without the Omega Lock, which was on Cybertron. And they did not have access to a Space Bridge, a major problem and setback. Regardless, they could potentially locate the one the Decepticons had, if they were building yet another one after their initial location was discovered. Something would surely work out.

    Everything was going tragically wrong, and the Prime was struggling to keep his team together. Smokescreen was still attempting to adjust, and it was obvious from how he was treated in Team Prime was that he was having quite the difficulty. The rookie had spirit and enthusiasm the team needed, but even Optimus could not deny that it was misplaced. Hopefully, with time, Smokescreen would to realize that he needed to be humble in his actions.

    Another set of coordinates soon popped up on the screen, Optimus turning towards his team.

    "Arcee, Bumblebee, prepare to roll out."

⬵⤁

    June gently stroked Jack's hair as the boy rested. She had done her best to wrap his arm, the nurse almost certain his arm would require surgery in order to fully repair and not be so deformed. But for some reason Megatron had yet to offer to take Jack to a hospital; why he was refusing to do so was a mystery to both June and Ratchet. What caused his hesitancy now?

    "When I made the deal with him, I was expecting him to have one of his lackeys take Jack to a hospital," Ratchet lamented. His sickly purple optics focused on the woman. "How did he find you?"

    "Apparently Soundwave is very resourceful," June answered with a touch of a bitter tone. She looked up at Ratchet, her soft blue eyes full of questions. "What kind of deal did you make with him? That you would take Dark Energon?"

    It only slightly surprised him that June was none the wiser about this. He had to give her props for figuring out the gist of what happened, the woman taking what information she could to form a story. But that was not what happened, and he was ashamed that this was not in fact the deal he had struck.

    "No," his voice and optics dropped, guilt molding across his features. "I . . ."

    June watched as he shuttered his optics and grit his denta. She could tell that Ratchet was not proud of what he had done; if Ratchet's body language was anything to go by, he was completely ashamed, curled in a ball to try and find some small comfort.

    "I gave him the coordinates to the Autobot base," he whispered.

    June stared at him, a little stunned. Ratchet did not strike her as the one who would do anything short of dying before giving up the location of the Autobot base. But Jack's well being could have been at stake; the inexperienced medical doctor had no idea if a broken ulna was crises-inducing. Judging from the state of where Jack had been - surrounded by vomit and blood - Ratchet had made a judgement call that, despite what it meant, June could not argue with. Jack's safety was everything.

    The boy was currently asleep with his head in her lap, for the first time resting without the nervous twitches he had grown accustomed to having during his short naps. Occasionally he would twitch as he dreamed, June's soft strokes calming the nightmares which would occasionally infiltrate his mind.

    "It is only a matter of time before Megatron uses that information to assault the base," Ratchet closed his optics. "And I have put all of Jasper in danger, if not the entire planet."

    June looked up in surprise, realizing he had no idea that the Autobots had moved. The timeline made sense, as it had been several weeks since his capture - and Jack's capture. Though she wondered if Jack had been aware the Autobots had left; if so, he did not share it with Ratchet, which was strange.

    "You shouldn't worry," she said firmly and to the medic's surprise. "The Autobots have since moved locations."

    "What?" His mouth dropped slightly, quickly interrupting her when she opened her mouth. "Don't tell me where they are! If he knows that the Autobots have left . . . he could use the cortical psychic patch to find the information in my head. Or force me to tell him."

    June paused, nodding slowly. That made sense. But if Megatron was made aware the Autobots had moved, he could torture Jack again to try and pry that information from him . . . or he could torture her.

    "I won't say anything," she promised softly. "But the base has been cleared out. They won't find anything there."

    "Good," Ratchet glared at the door. "That means they will be able to fight another day."

    June gazed back down at her son, gently stroking his hair. War. It was a terrible thing that June greatly disagreed with. It was why she assimilated a vegan lifestyle and chose to go into nursing. She wanted to do good in this world, saving lives instead of ending them. There was an irony to her situation, she supposed; both she and Jack were caught in the middle of a million-year old conflict, prisoners of war in a situation she would have otherwise avoided.

    The nurse still had her reservations about wars, but she could see the logic and reasoning behind why the Cybertronian's fought. The Autobots wanted peace, and Megatron wanted violent change. When push came to shove, they had to fight. There was no other way.

    They sat in silence for a long time before the door slid open, revealing the intimidating form of Megatron. He was alone, carrying a single glowing, purple cube of energon.

    Classically conditioned Jack shot straight up, crying and grunting in pain as he gripped his broken arm. June wrapped her arms around him and glared up at Megatron, though the two humans were hardly spared a second glance.

    "Drink, my pet."

    Ratchet did not even bother to resist, standing on his pedes. His shoulders were hunched forward in submission, Jack already used to the medic's deterioration and thus not noticing the change in his demeanor. Like a small child the human boy pressed against his mother, wanting her to protect him from the monster.

    Megatron offered the cube to Ratchet and he took it, pausing as his optics stared into the poisoned energon. He did not know if Megatron was using his will to insidiously convince the medic he needed this energon, but Ratchet could not deny the craving. He was not doing this to spare Jack, or June, of any pain - he was doing this because the dark energon would wash away the toxic emotions in his spark. It would numb the feelings he could no longer tolerate, a quick relief to a never ending pain.

    Without further encouragement he drank, letting the tingle spread from his intake to his tanks and across his frame. His optics turned an even brighter purple, eliciting a pleased hum from the warlord. When he was finished he tried to offer the cube back to Megatron, but the tyrant instead beckoned to his puppet.

    "Come," Megatron commanded, "there is something we must attend to."

    June could only watch as Ratchet obeyed, feeling sick to her stomach. She wanted to do something, say something, but her aching shoulder stopped her. The nurse had experienced enough pain for one day - and she did not want to put Jack at risk again.

    The titans left the humans alone in peace, Jack still shaking against his mother.

    "Mom . . ."

    "I'm here, Jack," she stroked the top of his head, keeping him nestled in the crook of her arm. "I'm here. And I won't leave you. I promise."

⬵⤁

    "Where are you taking me?"

    As beaten down and defeated as the medic was, he was still somewhat resistant to Megatron. It would take a little more work to have him respond to every beck and call, but thus far his behavior was satisfactory. It still irked the warlord, however, that Ratchet still insisted on using such a primitive human language.

    "Laserbeak has scouted the outside of your Autobot base, yet found no activity. In addition, we have also secured the location of the last relic - the rookie." He responded in his native tongue. Despite receiving a confused look from Ratchet, he did not divulge what exactly that meant, only his plans. "However, we have yet to have him in our sights. I believe it is time we paid your friends a visit."

    Ratchet felt fear coat his energon veins, though it was not because of their intended destination. June had assured him that the Autobots had since evacuated the base, yet once Megatron realized that . . .

    It would only be a matter of time before he learned that Ratchet knew nothing, then would turn on June and torture her. Or Jack. Or both of them.

    "Fear not, my pet," clawed digits stroked the back of his helm, deceivingly gentle. "Should your Autobots surrender willingly, they will be spared."

    The medic shuddered, having to force his pedes to move forward. They were met on the bridge of the ship with Soundwave, the silent mech only regarding Megatron and awaiting his master's orders. Behind him was a small squadron of Vehicons, whose energon weapons were charged and ready. The new dark energon in Ratchet's tanks rolled, and he was tempted to try and force it back up and out of his intake. Vomit, essentially.

    If Megatron sensed his distress he did not acknowledge it. "Bridge us to the Autobot base."

    Soundwave obeyed, his visor lighting up to show the coordinates and the Groundbridge. The green portal opened up before Megatron, and he gripped the Star Saber in his swindled arm. The sword glowed blue, however Ratchet was not comforted by it. That sword had nearly killed his friend - twice.

    "Attack!!" Megatron pointed the sword forward, sending his troops in. As soon as the last Vehicon passed the Groundbridge threshold he was right behind them, Ratchet pushed by his master to charge into battle with him. Entering the base his spark leapt, conditioned to the old surroundings and half expected the base to be filled with gunfire and the scrapes of metal-on-metal.  But it was eerily silent, the Decepticon warlord lowering the Star Saber in confusion.

    "Sir . . . it appears that no one is here," one of the Vehicons dared to say out loud.

    "An astute observation," Megatron snarled, causing his troops to flinch. A quick assessment of the base revealed that not only was it unoccupied, it was empty. The computer monitors, Groundbridge control, and the actual bridge itself was cleared out completely. Ratchet suspected the energon storage unit was also cleaned up.

    The medic could not help a sigh of relief. June was right.

    "Medic," Megatron whirled on his prisoner, Ratchet immediately his mistake. The dictator had wrongly assumed that the Autobot had been terrified of the fate of his friends - not for his own safety or that of his human pets. "You must take me for a fool."

    Ratchet took a step back despite knowing better, the Vehicons quickly moving out of their master's way as he stalked towards the Autobot.

    "I didn't know they had left!" He defended himself, taking another futile step back. "I have been a prisoner for Allspark knows how long, how could I possibly know this base would have been empty? If anything, you should have known better; Optimus would know you would get the location out of me eventually, so they moved!"

    "And yet you were very much aware that the transfer had taken place, unless you have an explanation for the thoughts in your head?"

    Ratchet flinched and suppressed a cry of pain as unforgiving claws latched onto his helm, threatening to crush the armor. Megatron's optics flashed violaceous, his denta bared like a wolf ready to consume a lamb.

    "I only knew they were gone, not where they went," he whimpered pathetically, even his pride no longer caring that he was starting to grovel in front of Vehicons.

    Megatron tilted his helm, still irate. "How could you have possibly acquired that information?" As soon as the question left his glossa, he concluded the answer. "The humans."

    Ratchet reached up and grabbed his wrist, a desperate attempt to stop him from releasing him just yet. He needed to keep the warlord's attention just enough to shoot reason through his thick helm.

    "They know just as much as I do!" He said quickly, fearfully. "Please, the Autobots didn't tell them where they were going, rightfully afraid that you would somehow manage to find out from them!"

    "It seems you finally learned that the humans are your weakest link," Megatron growled, his grip tightening on Ratchet just a touch and finally eliciting a cry. "No matter. This merely gives us a place to start, and soon to finish. I am sure Soundwave can make intriguing deductions from this base."

    Indeed, with this information Soundwave accurately guessed that the Autobots had to be within reasonable driving distance away from the small town of Jasper, Nevada. They could not Groundbridge their Groundbridge parts to just any location, and they would require to be fairly close to their human pets. It made sense, then, that perhaps Jasper, Nevada was where the three originated from, confirmed by finding the Darby household and the former home of the hacker that continued to outsmart Soundwave; to the fleshling's credit, he had the home advantage.                                        There was a rumored section of Nevada, Area 51, which supposedly held aliens. It had been the first compound to be investigated and crossed off the list by the Decepticon third officer, however it was now a new area of interest. There were three other military bases that Soundwave suspected were the Autobot's new home, and he would begin anew in his search for the location of their base. Additionally, they needed to find Smokescreen before the Autobots realized what they had with them this entire time, and then they would systematically hunt down and secure every key.

    The revival of Cybertron would give the Decepticons the advantage they needed to win over the Cybertronians not loyal to the Autobots to take their side. The war criminals that were the Autobots could then be captured and brought to the justice they deserved.

    Ratchet looked afraid, but equally confident. "We remained hidden for this long. What makes you think the Autobots cannot continue to hide?"

    "Earth is only so large," Megatron tightened his grip, and now Ratchet was becoming truly scared he would crush his helm. "They will be found, and I will give them a choice: surrender, and join the Decepticon cause, or die."

    "If by 'join' you mean do to them as you did to me, you will only be showing the world your true colors," Ratchet hissed. "No one will follow a mind-controlling dictator!"

    Megatron's angry expression softened a touch, and soon it twisted into a slow, creeping smile.

    "I hardly have enough Dark Energon for such an endeavor. You, dear Ratchet, are a very special case."

    The medic visibly flinched, but unlike before he no longer kept resisting, conceding a little ground while still trying to weakly defend himself.

    "And how am I a 'special' case?" He snarled. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Megatron."

    Almost like a dangerous switch had been flipped the pressure on his helm loosened, the dictator's opposable digit stroking down his armor, brushing past the corner of his optic. His voice changed from gnarled anger into a soothing, crooning tone. It was unnerving, yet comforting.

    "You have unlocked potential that I know I can tease to the surface," he assured him. "Optimus Prime, and the Autobot cause, has suppressed you into submission, convinced you you are nothing but a simple medic. We both know that is not true."

    Ratchet barely moved his helm, shuttering his optics in small resistance that Megatron noticed with faint amusement. "You keep saying that, but you have never proved it to me. What could I possibly do that would give your words any reasonable credit? I am a simple medic."

    Soundwave pinged his master, pleased: Smokescreen, the foolish Autobot, had isolated himself in an area that narrowed it down to two military bases, of which Area 51 was indeed one, but that was not Soundwaves concern. No, he was more concerned with the Autobot himself - for he held the relic within him. And he was out in the open, ripe for the taking, without any other Autobot in sight.

    Megatron, receiving this news, grinned. It would be the perfect opportunity to further corrupt his new servant.

    "Let us return to the Nemesis. And then I will show you, my pet, how much credit my promises are worth to you."

    The medic grunted as the will of the warlord once again pressed against his, aggressive and demanding but not yet forcing him to do anything - yet.

    "Yes . . . my master."