AN: I know what you're thinking, and yes, this is a bit many stories for me to be publishing at one time. I honestly planned to finish this one and then post it, but the writer in me wanted to post it now. So, without further ado, Road to Recovery.

"Break on my signal," Arcee hissed into her commlink. She peered around the corner, analyzing the pattern in which the black-clad humans had arranged themselves in the hope that they would be able to see any oncoming threat. Their left flank, which faced the wall of the warehouse, was their weak point. If she could get Bumblebee to charge that side, the humans would scatter, and they could access the building.

Onlining her integrated weapons systems, she extended one of her blades. She let it catch the dim light cast by setting sun and twisted her forearm. The small patch of light bounced off of a figure shrouded in shadows on the other side of the narrow alley between buildings.

The yellow and black figure nodded, transforming into his alt-mode and heading towards the group of humans, who held their ground up until Bumblebee was about to crash into them before diving out of his way. Transforming back, he onlined his blasters and whirred at them with as much malice as he could convey in Cybertronian. He gestured for them to back away.

Lumbering out from around a corner, Bulkhead pounded his servos together before shifting one into a mace. There was a fire in his optics, and he let out a deep growl.

Arcee darted out, herding the humans into a bunker and pinning the door shut with a large crate. "Alright, let's find our kids."

Eight months ago, Jack, Miko, and Raf had disappeared from their homes without a trace. After confronting the Decepticons, it was quickly discovered that Megatron had had nothing to do with the vanishing of their young friends. That left the only logical culprit as MECH, who hadn't been heard from for a year prior.

Now, Bulkhead pried the doors to the warehouse open, tossing them aside as though they were no more than pieces of cardboard. He stepped inside and ordered the humans out before jerking his helm to indicate that it was safe for the others to come inside.

Inside the warehouse, there was a table large enough for a Cybertronian to lay comfortably on with similarly sized restraints on the edges. There were massive gouges taken out of most of the equipment, four on each, spaced evenly apart as though someone had swiped their servo through the metal without so much as a second thought. Processed, stale energon coated the floor near one corner where more gouges littered the floor and walls.

Searching for some sign of where their companions might be, the Autobots wandered about the building until they stopped near a locked door. It was as good a sign as any, so Arcee ripped out the keypad on the lock and slipped her digits into the crack, prying the doors open.

Immediately, a low snarl echoed around the building, and something leaped out of the shadows to pin her against the ground. She and the something grappled with each other, kicking and thrashing and struggling for the upper servo. They rolled about on the floor until Bulkhead and Bumblebee pulled the something off of her.

The something turned out to be white and gray mech with crimson optics—one of which was halfway offline—and energon leaking from his joints. He tried to rip himself free of the two Autobots, growling and snarling at them with as much ferocity as he could muster in his derelict state. There was a wild glint in his optics, hidden behind obvious terror.

"Get off of him!" screamed a voice as two more shapes darted from the shadows of the room, one a navy and black femme, another a red and orange mech. Both were younglings, their under-developed features betraying their immaturity. The femme activated her integrated weapons with a painful-sounding whirr, a pair of wire whips sliding from her forearms. "Let him go!" she ordered. She cracked her whips, which promptly came to life, white-blue electricity crackling down their lengths.

"He just attacked me," Arcee retorted.

"If you were him," muttered the red and orange youngling, "you would have attacked, too." He retracted his visor, revealing bright amber optics. Strangely, his battle mask stayed in place. Hesitant, he crept closer to Bulkhead and Bumblebee, keeping his helm low as though he were afraid they would strike him. "Nova. Nova, we're right here. We're safe, for now." He placed his servos on either side of the other mech's faceplate, touching their helms together.

The feral gleam in Nova's optics faded, and he relaxed in the Autobots' grip. A contented purr left his chassis as he nuzzled the youngling. He looked up after a moment, dipping his helm to Arcee. "What happened to the humans?" he queried, his words clearly carefully chosen.

"Occupied," the blue femme replied tersely. She signaled for Bulkhead and Bumblebee to let go of him. He and the other mech retreated to the femme's side as quickly as possible. Arcee made a show of deactivating her weapons systems, earning a wary glance from the femme, who merely cracked her whips again.

Nova stepped in front of the navy and black femme, holding his arm out to block her from charging the Autobots. "I don't think they're here to hurt us," he said, turning to face her. He stared at them with wide optics. "Actually, I think they're here to help."

"Yep. Definitely here to help," Bulkhead replied. He shifted his weight from pede to pede as though he couldn't let himself relax around these new Cybertronians. Beside him, Bumblebee whirred and clicked, gesturing around them, reminding them that they were looking for their human friends.

"They're not here." Arcee turned her back to the younglings, hoping that Nova would have enough sense to hold back the navy and black femme in the event she decided to attack. "MECH must have moved them."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, moved who?" The red and orange mech rolled forward, the wheels that acted as his pedes emitting a high-pitched whine as he did so.

The Autbots looked down, their shoulders and doorwings drooping. Arcee felt her spark sink at the realization that they had lost their kids, probably for good. She offlined her optics briefly and turned to face the youngling. "Our human friends were kidnapped," she admitted, "and we haven't seen them for almost a year."

Nova stiffened, and the femme averted her gaze, while the youngling stared up at the Autobots compassionately. "I don't know how to say this-"

"Your friends are dead," interrupted the femme, pushing Nova aside. She straightened to her full height, retracted her whips, and crossed her arms. "MECH killed them months ago."

Clamping a servo over her mouth and wrapping the opposite arm around her midsection, Arcee almost doubled over. No. No, not again. Not Jack. She couldn't have lost another partner. Her tanks churned, and she struggled to keep from shaking. Finally, she collapsed to her knees, coolant streaming from her optics.

A horrified chirp came from behind her as Bumblebee stared at the femme as if he couldn't comprehend what he'd just heard. His vents cycled rapidly, overcompensating for the sudden heat in his core that came with the shock.

Bulkhead could only gawk, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. "Miko…" he breathed.

Nova yanked her back and glared at her. He hissed something in her audial before growling, "We do not just say that!" He gave the Autobots a sympathetic glance. "I'm so sorry."

"Voltage can be a bit blunt," added the red and orange youngling. "She doesn't mean any harm by it, honestly." He rolled towards Bumblebee slightly before pulling back and rubbing the back of his neck. "We are truly sorry for what happened to your friends. You must be hurt."

Bumblebee clicked at him disparagingly, gesturing to Arcee, who hadn't moved since collapsing. He put a servo on the femme's shoulder guard and helped her to her pedes. A concerned chirp left his vocorder, and he pulled her into an embrace. When Bulkhead joined, lifting them both off of the ground, he beeped to complain that the other mech was crushing his internals.

Voltage, Nova, and the youngling turned to each other. They huddled together, touching helms, a silent conversation passing between them. After a minute, they turned back to the Autobots. "If you'd like, we could help you get revenge on these humans," Nova offered.

"Optimus wouldn't like that."

"They hurt us," Voltage snarled. She leaned forward, her armor lifting to make her look bigger. "Cypher's barely out of his sparkling stage—he doesn't have any good weapons, for Primus' sake—and they made him fight me and Nova." She cycled her vents, coolant welling in her optics. Her entire frame began to shudder. "I- I tried to hold back, but they threatened to kill him if I did. How could you not help us pay them back for what they've done? After what they did to your friends, how could you not help us?"

"Look," Arcee said, stepping forward to place a servo on the femme's shoulder, "we're not happy with what MECH has done, but going after them won't fix what they did to you or to our friends. Holding a grudge will only make you feel worse."

"Words of wisdom," Bulkhead rumbled. "Someone's been taking lessons from Optimus."

Nova plucked Arcee's servo off of Voltage's shoulder guard and pulled the black and navy femme to his chassis. He stroked her helm comfortingly as Cypher slid over to embrace her and bury his helm in her chestplate. They were a solemn sight: three young Cybertronians who had been captured and tortured until all they had left to hold onto was each other.

"Come on; let's take you back to base." Arcee tapped her commlink, looking up as if expecting to see someone there. "Ratchet, we need a Bridge."

::Have you found the children?::

She glanced at the younglings. "… No, but I think you'll like what we did find."