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Until the Bitter End

Chapter 1

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Tip-toeing down the long hall, Miko kept an eye out for anyone—Autobot or her human friends—to realize that she had disappeared from the couch and to come looking for her. They should have known better, if she could be honest, than to speak so freely about what was locked away in the prison at the end of the hall. Especially with the little Asian girl sitting not too far away, pretending to watch the television special about some lake monster on the discovery channel.

How she had managed to slip away without even Raf knowing was beyond her, but she did it, and she was so close that she could almost feel the danger tickling under her flesh. She was sure that she would have been spotted the moment she stepped through the massive archway and scolded for her actions. However, that wasn't the case and she had made it completely down the hall without so much as a curious noise from the main room—not that she could hear it now anyway.

Standing in front of the large doorway, she felt her skin prickle with excitement and the muscles in her hands twitching. She ignored the rational side of her mind—which she nicknamed Jack, because he was always ruining her fun—and took the time to glance over her shoulder. Upon noticing that no one was following her, not that they had noticed that she was gone with their minds on what was in the room she was about to enter, she leaned over and poked her head through the archway.

Scanning over the dimly lit room, she searched for any traps—not that she'd find them anyway—and the glow of crimson that she was sure lurked inside. Ultimately, there was neither of those things and she felt a sense of disappointment. However, she did know that the Autobots wouldn't fib about what was inside and she couldn't stop herself from stepping inside completely. She narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze over the room once more, still finding nothing.

"Hello," she called out childishly, scoffing when a few seconds later there was no reply. She huffed and kicked the air, only to be startled by a sound that echoed off the walls. It sounded like metal scraping off of metal and what had appeared like sparks caught her attention. Blinking, she turned her head and stepped forward, curiously calling out again; "You there?"

Surprised when the sound echoed again, she found her feet moving by themselves—like they normally did—and she was practically racing over to where it had come from. She stumbled a few times but nothing major before coming to an end of her jog. Her sights flickered over the scene that the large repair table had hidden from her; she could feel her body tremble as a disturbed yet excited shiver raced down her spine.

Behind glowing bars sat the talk of the base, his agile frame leaned against the corner of what could only be described as a prison. Thick, glowing cuffs locked his wings straight back and his wrists were placed in the similar, if not the same type but smaller model, as his wings. His lips were turned down into that of an angered frown and eyes dark without the familiar glow that they should have had. However that wasn't what caused her stomach to twist, because that wasn't the worst of the worst.

His armor—she always thought of it as their skin—was slashed, mauled, and scarred. Deep gashes were dark compared to the light silver of his frame, which seemed to have a certain tint to it that reminded her of blood—she figured it to be Energon. Over his eyes was the biggest of the marred metal, and she could also see dents the size of Optimus's hands in the thin yet tough winds, despite their position. It was enough to shake the youngster.

However, it wasn't enough to stop her from leaning to the side and removing one of her earrings. She fingered it for a moment before tossing it to the left, the sound of it landing with a tiny thump echoed and so did the sliding noise that followed. She nearly laughed when the seeker tensed, armored feet grinding against the metal floor—which explained the sound from earlier—as if to attempt to move back. It was too bad that his wings were already pressed against the wall behind it. However, it was the moment that his expression morphed from angry to terrified that any amusement left her and her brain kicked on.

Not to mention, she had gotten a close look at his optics, or lack of. The teen trembled as a chill rushed through her, and she realized that the prisoner eyes were gone and empty sockets were left behind. A mature side of her that she hid regretted her teasing, which she only did because she was sure that the giant had his eyes closed—or offline, whatever robots did. With her mind racing, she wondered if the Autobots had done this to the seeker. That thought rocked her to her core and she couldn't believe it, but that didn't stop her from whipping around to flee.

However, fate was not on her side. When she had turned and stepped forward, she happened to walk right into the massive foot of the Autobot medic. She fell onto her backside and slapped her hand to her forehead, a light throb echoed in her skull from the somewhat awkward impact. It took her brain a few moments to process what had just happened and her head tilted back, gaze lifting to view the stoic face of the alien. For a second, she thought she had gotten away with the whole thing, since the robot's optics seemed to only view the frightened flier, but soon that powerful gaze had turned to her.

"I thought I'd find you in here."

"Uh, yeah," she replied awkwardly at his icy statement. She lowered her hand from her head and pushed herself up, mindful not to make much noise as to not startle the already paranoid seeker. However, when she had gotten to her feet and spared the flier a glance, she cringed while watching him turn his head every which way, as if he was searching for the voices that were probably echoing through his skull—helm, processor, whatever it was, Miko didn't know. She felt her throat tighten at the sight before she choked out a single question: "What happened to him?"

"We not entirely sure," Ratchet answered, tone dark and low and scary to the human at his feet. "It's not like he can tell us either."

Confused, the girl blinked, "Huh?"

"His vocalizer was broken," the medic supplied. "I removed it completely to attempt to repair it but there… isn't much to work with."

"And his eyes?"

"Gone when we found him and the reason he's bound," was the reply. "He nearly ripped Arcee's arm off before attempting to beat Bumblebee's helm in. Leaking energon, blind, and unable to speak yet the seeker still tried to slaughter Autobots. That was just too dangerous around anyone, so we had to cage him."

"Oh," she whispered and allowed herself to turn back to the medic. Her hands suddenly went to her hips and her nose scrunched up childishly. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, still looking up at the alien. "Shouldn't you be fixing him or something? I mean, it's what you do—take a broken dude and make him better! It can't be that hard to replace all that stuff!"

"We don't have the resources."

"Huh," she blinked and straightened up, realization hitting her. Of course they didn't have the parts and the like. They barely had enough to take care of themselves; they couldn't be using their resources on the enemy. However, she realized as a shiver teased her spine, this only meant one thing for the once proud yet cowardly flier. "He's going… to have to stay like that?"

"Yes," he answered swiftly before turning, motioning for her to leave. "Now, go play those infuriating video games with the other two."

"But-"

"Go. It's not safe in here for you if he happens to escape those binds, with all the unnecessary noise you make!"

"Hey," she pouted and stomped her foot, probably only proving the medic's point. After losing a short staring down, she rocked on her heels before starting a march to the doorway to take her leave. However, she paused midway and attempt to get another glance at the injured Decepticon but the Autobot blocked her view, whose stance let her know that his patience was running thin. With one last pouted glare, she took off out the door and down the long hall to join her friends. Although, the two boys wouldn't be on her mind, only the seeker whose fate was locked in endless darkness and a bitter ending.

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Author's Note

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Hey there! Thanks for reading this probably odd fanfiction. I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with it yet, but the plot bunny would not stop biting so I kind of went with it. Let me know what you think of it; constructive reviews would be awesome by the way. Just kind of want to improve. In addition, if anyone is interested, I'm currently looking for a beta-reader. Just a thought.