Hi!

Sorry it's taken me this long to update. Thank you for all the reviews, fav's and follows. I hope I can do your attention justice.

Massive thank you to my friend Mel, who has been kind enough to beta for me even though she's not a big tf fan. I think she likes the sexy bits...but then who doesn't :)

Here we go and I hope you like it...as I promised, more Knock Out ;)

3 days later

Jasper, Nevada

Ratchet sighed in relief as his patient continued to show improvement. Her spark was back to normal and he was getting good results from her energon pump and neural circuitry.

He expected that she would wake up very soon, a day at the most.

With all this time spent monitoring and hovering over Arcee, he had managed to buff out the scratches in her paintwork. He glared at the obvious evidence of her captivity; a ring of red circled her neck and wrists.

Ratchet could guess, just by the evidence in front of him, that Arcee had been held down on her back but she had fought. He felt pride grow in his spark for their brave femme, not many had stayed on to fight once Cybertron had fallen. Most had gone off as refugees to protect what they could of their species. Prime's own Bonded had led the charge, her team of femmes keeping the sparklings that had survived safe.

Not Arcee though, she had stayed to help them defend the Autobot cause. She was fierce and had clearly fought against her torturer.

Ratchet had a pretty good idea who had done it too. The plating of her shoulder and hip had been carefully removed to expose the circuitry beneath, not ripped off as Airachnid would have done. The rings of red only strengthened his suspicions. The Decepticon medic, Knock Out, had much to answer for.

Ratchet took his now familiar seat at Arcee's bedside and waited for her to online.

Optimus smiled gently as Arcee blinked softly, her optics coming into focus. He had come in for an update on her condition just in time to see her come online.

Ratchet groused quietly off to the side, Optimus knew that was a sign that he was pleased. Ratchet had been working hard for almost a week to get Arcee stabilised and functional again.

"Welcome back online." The medic said as he leaned over her, his scanner running. "You were barely functional when Bumblebee brought you in."

Arcee smirked. "I couldn't ask for a better face to see before going into stasis."

Ratchet huffed. "Better me than a Decepticon."

Optimus didn't miss the way Arcee tensed, her optics clouding for several seconds as if she was seeing something else.

He hid his frown as he stepped closer to her berth. Arcee jerked her head towards him, her optics now clear and alert.

"Optimus, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have chased Airachnid through the ground bridge. You can believe me when I say I won't do that again." Her tone and expression were properly repentant.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "We can discuss that later, when you are fully functional. In the meantime, I would like to know what happened to you on the Nemesis."

Ratchet started disengaging the cabling from Arcee's body, Optimus' optics easily picking up on the way she flinched whenever he got near her spark. When everything was removed, Arcee sat up with their help.

"I'd rather not talk about it, Optimus."

"I can understand that but you had a lot of damage, Arcee. Ratchet and I can only guess at what happened and we're not coming to any good conclusions."

Arcee tensed, her optics taking on a faraway look again. Optimus wished he didn't have to push the subject but he couldn't afford not to know.

"Long story short, the Decepticons are better at hide'n'seek than I am."

"They captured you."

If Arcee could get any more tense, she did. "Yes, sir."

"What did they use to torture you?"

Arcee began to shake. Optimus frowned and touched her shoulder. His frown deepened when she flinched away from him. This wasn't normal behaviour for Arcee.

"An electro-prod."

Optimus pushed away the anger that bubbled from his spark. He couldn't be surprised that the Decepticons would use illegal methods of torture but he was furious that they had used it on his soldier. He could see Ratchet struggling with his own reaction to Arcee's words; he had turned away from them to hide his anger.

"Did you tell them anything?"

Her head shook. "No, sir."

"Good. Now, who did this to you?"

Arcee hesitated and her words came out in a whisper. "Knock Out."

Ratchet turned back, effectively cutting off Optimus with a glare. "You're fine to leave. I'm not signing you off on active duty at all. Rest is your main priority while your systems sync."

Arcee nodded and Optimus moved to help her off the berth.

"The others will be pleased to see you well again." He said as he let her lean on him. "Jack has been trying to sneak into the medbay to make sure Ratchet wasn't disassembling you."

Arcee smiled and Prime was glad he could lift her spirits. He watched as she walked away from the medbay, she was quickly gathered up by Bumblebee and Bulkhead. Optimus didn't doubt that the humans were close behind.

Nemesis, Somewhere over China

Knock Out slammed a fist into the table that had so recently held an Autobot. Damn her!

He hadn't expected her to be able to get out of the restraints quite so quickly, nor had he expected her to thrash Airachnid with his electro-prod. If Arcee had managed to deactivate the femme, she would have taken at least one task from his to-do list. But no, Arcee had left her nemesis online just to irritate him.

He continued to glower at the empty table uselessly. He was angry that she had escaped, he was even angrier that he had done exactly what he had accused Airachnid of. He'd underestimated her.

But why was he still angry now? The Autobot had escaped over a week ago. He should have been able to shrug off his irritation by now. Instead it had festered, lingering on the edges on his mind at all times.

He grabbed the electro-prod he'd retrieved from the control panel of the ground bridge. Memories invaded as he watched it spark. Memories that woke him in the middle of his recharge, disturbing his beauty sleep.

What would he do now? Find her? Destroy her? Frag her?

He growled in frustration and slammed his fist into the table again.

The door to his lab hummed open, Breakdown entered. He was the only one who could without fear of being dismantled.

"What?" Knock Out demanded harshly.

"Lord Megatron wants to know when Airachnid will be functional again."

Knock Out's mood darkened further. "She'll be functional when I'm done with her."

"Megatron seems to want her for a mission."

He glared at the closest thing he had to a friend. Breakdown stared back at him, an expression that wasn't quite concern in his optics. Knock Out didn't expect Breakdown to understand his bad mood and was pleased he wasn't pushing for answers.

"Fine." The word came out through gritted dentals.

The march to the medbay was short but gave Knock Out enough time to plan the way he wanted to deactivate Airachnid.

Megatron was waiting for them; Starscream was lounging on an unoccupied berth.

"I expected better work from you, doctor." The large mech said in his usual growl.

"My lord, I have Airachnid on a schedule conducive to a swift recovery, she suffered a full system shut down and rebooting has been difficult. Several sections of wiring have fused together under the high electrical charge…. I have had to restore my security and labs as well in the meantime."

Megatron's optics narrowed. "Your petty disagreements with Airachnid are not my concern. What I want is this ship to run without needing to be here to oversee my officers."

"She broke into my private laboratory and released my prisoner." Knock Out argued.

The Decepticon leader didn't look like he cared and Knock Out swallowed his anger.

"I can bring her online in two cycles, my liege."

Megatron nodded once and left the medbay, Starscream swept out after him, a smug look on his face. Knock Out snarled as the doors closed. His burning gaze turned on the femme currently occupying his domain.

She looked peaceful, optics shuttered and body relaxed. Only Knock Out knew the pain she would go through once the machines keeping her in this state were turned off prematurely. He smiled maliciously.

3 days later

Jasper, Nevada

Arcee hated the feeling of weakness running through her body. The knowledge that she still couldn't do many of her usual tasks unaided was like a knife in her side. Ratchet had been forcing her to consume high density energon since onlining, a cube of it sat next to her.

Bumblebee was once again nearby. She raised a brow at him. "I'm fine Bee, you can stop hovering."

"You didn't see what you looked like in the desert." He whirred and clicked back at her.

Arcee nodded. She knew about the superficial damage she had received aside from the full system shut down. There had been numerous dents and marks on her body, Arcee hoped there had been no obvious paint transfers. She'd rather the team not know about her dalliance with Knock Out.

Her hand moved to her throat, a ring of red paint circled the base of her neck with matching bands around her wrists. She knew Knock Out had done it; he was the type to mark his victims as he tried to prove his dominion over them. She had tried to remove the marks but whatever the vain mech had used seemed to be unmoveable.

She pushed the thoughts away to the back of her processor. She needed to focus on getting herself back in top form. Optimus wouldn't let her off lightly for reckless behaviour, although he might be a little lenient since she had already suffered for her stupidity.

Arcee groaned softly as she acknowledged that fact that, yes, she had been stupid. Very stupid. She hadn't been thinking when she'd followed Airachnid, hadn't been thinking as she'd leapt through that ground bridge. Certainly hadn't been thinking when she'd agreed to be Knock Out's plaything.

The distinctive sound of the ground bridge powering up distracted brought her mind back. Arcee forced her body not to react even as every sensor screamed at her. She hated that she flinched whenever the ground bridge activated, she didn't know why it was the sound of the bridge that affected her so much but it did. With it always came the memories of Knock Out, she snarled internally as his face floated through her processor.

Arcee shoved to her feet and marched off towards her quarters. It was safer in there for her at the moment. She knew from recent experience that she couldn't just dispel Knock Out from her thoughts once he'd appeared. He would linger, taunting her with phantom caresses that she knew weren't real but couldn't help the way her body reacted.

She made it inside her quarters just as her fans kicked in, the sound loud in the quiet room. Arcee closed her optics as she fell back into her memories. She leaned against the door, the metal feeling remarkably similar to the table she had been restrained on. A soft sound came from her throat before she could stop it. Sharp claws moved over her body and Arcee writhed against the door, her spark heating quickly.

The memories built and Arcee pushed her body to move towards her berth. If she had to go through this again at least she would be comfortable.

The moment her back hit the cushioning the wall in her processor fell, releasing the sensations and images that had been threatening for days. She could see his arrogant smile as he made her arch off the berth and into his hands. She could hear the gasps and moans coming from her own vocaliser and feel the tips of his claws dig into her hip plating. The addictive taste of his kiss invaded her mouth and heat spread across her systems.

A frustrated growl echoed in the small room as Arcee tried to figure out how to relieve the pressure building in her body. Her inexperience, having never been an issue before, was starting to become a problem. She didn't know what to do to ease her systems. She didn't necessarily want to overload, she just wanted to be able to function normally.

Damn the mech!

He'd done this to her. He'd activated coding she hadn't needed or wanted before. Arcee swore quietly, wishing he was there so she could strangle him. She pictured herself with her hands wrapped around his neck. Her engine kicked up a gear and she moaned at the vibrations. Maybe that was an option…could she visualise Knock Out strongly enough to get her to overload?... it was worth a shot.

She closed her optics and focused on her fantasy.

Knock Out grinned at her, his customary smug expression in place. Red optics darkened as they stared at her, his expression turning predatory. Broad shoulders and gleaming paint filled her vision as he leaned over her, his hands already reaching out to touch her. Sharp tipped claws skated lightly across her armour leaving her shaking with need. She felt hot air caress her neck moment before his mouth was there. Little bites and licks sent pleasure flying through her, making her spark pulse and whirl in its' housing.

Her hands moved over the smooth plating of his back, pulling him closer. She wanted to feel his body against hers and the way he pressed her down into the padding of the berth. His mouth left her neck and Arcee almost cried out at the loss. She opened her optics to see him hovering over her, his red optics locked on hers. Slowly he lowered onto her, Arcee arching up to meet him part way, her lips open in invitation. As with their encounter on the Nemesis, Knock Out didn't let the offer go to waste.

Hot lips latched onto her own, his denta lightly nipping to get her to open further for him. A rough sound left her throat as she did what he wanted. Knock Out invaded, his glossa moving to tangle with hers sensuously as his hand traced the edge of her face. The familiar taste of him filled her senses until she didn't care what was happening.

Except that something was wrong. Acree couldn't pick what but something was definitely off in this fantasy.

Knock Out moved back, his lips trailing down to her audio. His voice was rough as he echoed her thoughts. "Something is wrong, my dear."

"Yes." She replied softly. "But what?"

The body over her stilled momentarily then growled. "This."

Suddenly his denta sank into her shoulder and Arcee cried out at the violent change in Knock Out's demeanour. His hands gripped at her thighs, pulling them apart to allow him to grind their hips together. Static filled her vision as Knock Out forced his dominant personality on her.

"This is what you need, little Autobot. This is what you want. Not some romantic slag." The voice was dark seduction in her audio, filled with promises of pleasures she didn't understand.

Arcee groaned as her body was manhandled. Why had she imagined him to be anything other than how she had known him on the Nemesis? This was how she knew him, rough hands and deep claiming kisses as he used her body for his pleasure. Skilled fingers dipped between seams making Arcee thrash on the berth. She could feel his smug smile against her neck and he went back to her shoulder, his glossa playing over the exposed circuitry. Lightening streaked through her to pool at her spark.

Even though Arcee knew that this wasn't real, it was frighteningly realistic. She could feel his claws digging into her plating and tasted his essence as he jacked into her. She threw her head back on the berth, laying her body open to Knock Out; she was his to play with just so long as he continued to build the heat in her systems.

All of a sudden everything went still and Knock Out loomed over her, his handsome face shined with excess energy and the gleam in his optics sent further shivers through her chassis. He rocked his hips hard and ground their chests together, his horse growl the last thing Arcee heard as her spark exploded. Sharp pleasure swamped every system as the overload swept through her, her frame practically vibrating on the berth.

Arcee opened her optics to see an empty room, no Knock Out. She ran her hands over her body to assure herself that all her plating was intact. Her interface panel still solidly closed. She dropped her head back and tried to relax but her body was still thrumming with remembered sensations. She controlled the frown that threatened when she could still taste Knock Out on her glossa.

Shame and humiliation edged into her processor once again, how could her body still react like that? Knock Out had tortured her for fun, stripping her of her defences in hopes of destroying her. Why did she still want him?

Arcee puffed out a small sigh; she would have to do her best to avoid the Decepticon medic as much as she could until she figured out what was going on in her processor.

Nemesis, over the Atlantic Ocean

Knock Out growled as he tossed on his berth, trying not to jar his injured arm.

Megatron had finally taken his anger out on them for having lost an Autobot prisoner as well as not getting any viable information out of her. Knock Out had been beaten and thrown across the room; he had almost lost his arm to his leader's manhandling.

Airachnid hadn't been seen since she'd walked in after Knock Out had limped out.

A nasty grin grew on his face; he hoped Megatron had finally decided the femme was worth more as a decoration than an officer. Maybe her body would be mounted on the command deck for all to see. He made a mental note to make his next report in person.

He adjusted again, making sure not to put any pressure on the abused limb. Breakdown had been called in to help him realign the shoulder joint. The mechs big hands had done more damage to his paintwork than his arm was worth, in Knock Out's opinion.

His thoughts strayed, as they had a habit of doing recently, to the Autobot femme that had caused all this drama. Her face swam in his mind, her optics glaring at him defiantly before turning seductive. His spark heated as he recalled the way she had responded to him. He smiled as his mind conjured images of her face mid-overload. His smile grew as he accessed the recording he'd made whilst Arcee had still been on his table.

His spark heated pleasantly as she arched for him, the electricity playing over her body like an erotic light show. Her optics widened and her mouth dropped open and Knock Out growled his appreciation, his hands skimming over his own body to help ease the heat building inside him.

The video played and Knock Out groaned as the femme moved sensually to the music in his head. A sexy little video clip that made his engine rev and his fans turn on. His claws strayed to the edges of his interface panel, tracing the edges of the sensitive unit.

"Really, Knock Out? Reduced to self-servicing?"

Knock Out flinched and jerked his head towards the door. His optics widened even as his processor raced trying to understand what he was seeing.

Arcee sauntered closer; her hips rolling in a way that made his mouth go dry. Her body shone as if she'd just been detailed, the rings of his red stood out against the cool blue and silver. Lust shot through his spark as she crawled onto the berth and straddled his waist.

"This clearly isn't real." He said even as he rested his hands on her thighs.

She smirked and leaned down, tracing his interface panel with her glossa. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No." Sweet Primus no!

Arcee's smirk turned sultry as she worked her way up his chest, pressing soft kisses to the metal over his spark and lingering over his headlights, heat flaring from every point of contact reaching down to his spark. The little flicks of her glossa on the sensitive lines of armour had Knock Out closing his optics in ecstasy. Her delicate fingers slipped between his plating to tease at the sensors and wiring beneath. His body jerked as she worked him over, his cooling fans kicked higher.

His hands tightened on her thighs before sliding up to span her waist and shift her higher, bringing her face up to his. Her optics shone bright with desire and dipped down to his mouth before locking with his. A deep rumble started in Knock Out's engine. Arcee arched her back like one of the earthen felines, the move bringing her body within centimetres of touching his. The heat radiating from her sent all of Knock Out's sensors into overdrive.

Arcee grinned hungrily moments before kissing him aggressively, her lips and glossa commanding him to respond. Knock Out did, he kissed her back violently. Hands gripped and caressed but Knock Out couldn't pull her down to close that final distance between them. His body raged as he worked at turning Arcee into a writhing flame of need.

She broke away, her face flushed with excess energy. He could hear the combined hum of their cooling fans as they worked overtime. She moved to whisper in his audial, somehow managing to keep that maddening distance between them.

"What do you want, baby? Tell me."

Knock Out's optics widened at the bizarre endearment but didn't pull away from her, her hands were moving again to trace the edges of his interface.

"Oh frag." Knock Out groaned, his hand coming up to manoeuvre her head into a position he could access again.

Arcee's answering moan sent heat shooting through his body once more. His hands moved to mould her form, enjoying the sounds she made as he ran his fingers down the middle of her back and along the winglets. She threw her head back with a gasp as his claws played across the sensitive edges of the small sensory panels.

Blue optics dark with need stared down at him, intent clear in their depths.

"Primus."

Her low laugh was Knock Out undoing, his interface panel snapped open. He wouldn't last long now, not with Arcee being so aggressive. He hoped that the real Autobot had this much fire in her. He suspected that she did and he fully intended on cornering her again to find out.

He trembled gently as Arcee played with his cable, her fingers running over the sensitive jack end slowly. Knock Out gritted his denta as she tortured him. Sharp lances of pleasure streaked through him with every slide of her fingers, making his spark pulse wildly.

A soft laugh was his only warning as she jacked into him, sending fire flowing along every circuit board and synapse. Arcee's hands moved over him, playing in the vents along his shoulder and dipping down to dig into the plating of his waist and hips.

He shuddered as she writhed against him, her body moving in time with the bursts of energy she was pushing into his body. The heat around his spark was becoming almost painful without a full connection with the femme.

Knock Out wasn't prepared for the overload as it hit. The abrupt spike of pleasure erupting through his body with no warning. Energon boiled in his veins and his spark whirled faster than ever before as the pleasure spread through each and every one of his systems until they were wrung dry.

Bolting straight up on his berth, Knock Out heaved air through his vents. His body was still over heated from his overload. A quick look around his quarters showed Knock Out that everything was normal. No Arcee. What the Pit sort of dream was that? His hand moved down his chest and gingerly closed the panel that had sprung open during his overload.

He lay back down, his processor whirling trying to find a reason for such an intense dream. His body drained from the burst of energy, Knock Out felt his systems starting to cycle down for recharge. Arcee's laughter still in his audios.

1 month later

Jasper, Nevada

"I have detected an exposed energon signature."

Ratchet's yell brought then all to the main room. Arcee's spark pulsed eagerly, Optimus had taken her off desk duty two days ago and she was itching to get off base. The brief ride with Jack hadn't gotten all the kinks out of her systems.

Bumblebee nodded to her and rubbed his hands together, even for the scout it had been a slow month. The Decepticons hadn't been making as much trouble as usual.

Optimus studied the map Ratchet had on screen, he nodded and Ratchet turned to the control console.

Arcee stood straight under her leader's optics, she knew Optimus was appraising her and she really wanted this mission. She wanted to get off base and she wanted to feel the kick of her gun as she shot at Decepticons.

"Bumblebee, Arcee, you will come with me to investigate. Ratchet, give us a ground bridge."

Arcee let a small smile lift her lips when Prime turned to the opening bridge. Bee trilled at her happily and she touched her fist to his.

The mine was in production when they arrived. Decepticon grunts were hauling the mined energon to the waiting transport.

Arcee was crouched down next to Prime behind an outcropping of rock. They watched and waited, judging how and when would be the best time to stage an attack on the mine. Bumblebee came out of nowhere on their left, both Prime and Arcee too used to the scout's abilities to be surprised.

Bumbkbee reported in his usual whirs and clicks. "They're taking the energon out in shifts. The teams are made up of five and there is a forty minute window between shifts. Once one team has left there are roughly thirty Decepticons inside the mine still excavating the energon."

Optimus Prime nodded. "Arcee, you and I will take out the Decepticons guarding the entrance as soon as the next team leaves. Bumblebee, you go in and find the control hub. Sabotage it if you can and find a safe defensible position."

The yellow head bobbed and Bee disappeared again into the rocky landscape.

Arcee kept her excitement in check. "The Decepticons outside should be easy enough to deactivate. We should have plenty of time to get inside and empty the mine."

Prime nodded. "We will collect as much energon as possible."

"The Decepticons have been quiet recently, are we looking for clues as well?"

"If there is anything to be found we will find it."

Arcee studied her commander's profile before she turned back to look down at the hole in the Cliffside. Optimus Prime's words and tone always managed to boost her morale before a fight. She'd been under more than one command and Prime was the best leader she had ever seen. His concern for his troops was evident and Arcee had sworn to protect him with her life if need be. She wasn't the only one to do so either, Optimus inspired devotion from all his soldiers.

Arcee returned her attention to the Decepticons guarding the entrance. Soon enough a team of five mechs appeared, pushing three carts of raw energon. The volatile crystals gleamed in the sunshine. Arcee did a quick calculation and frowned. In those carts alone was enough energon to keep the whole team's energy reserves at maximum for eight months. No wonder the Decepticons were kicking their afts all over the planet.

Optimus motioned her to follow him as the five mechs entered the ground bridge that had appeared in front of them.

The ground bridge to the Nemesis. Her processor whispered. It would be so easy to sneak on again. You know the Decepticon's timetable and the way to Knock Out's lab.

Arcee shoved the thoughts away even as a sliver of heat went through her spark.

They descended to the rocky floor of the canyon without the guards seeing them. Stupid as ever, she exchanged a look with Prime that said as much.

The Decepticons didn't notice them until it was too late. Optimus and Arcee fell on them like wolves, the air was quickly filled with the sounds of rending metal and showers of lubricants as internal systems gave way to blades and laser fire.

Arcee transformed her arm back and kicked the dismembered head away from her as the last one fell. It clanked across the rocky ground towards her leader. Optimus Prime stood over a collection of body parts, his battlemask splattered with energon.

They cleaned themselves off and entered the mine. Bumblebee should have already been through this section and eliminated some of their enemies. An arm poking out from behind some boulders told them that the scout had been successful, now all they had to do was find him and complete the mission.

Arcee kept her sensors open as she took point, she wouldn't risk Optimus' safety even on a standard energon raid. She heard the Decepticons long before they saw them. The sounds of industry echoing along the passageway.

The entrance tunnel opened up into a cavern, the only light came from the Decepticon rigs and the energon itself. Arcee's mouth watered at the sight of so much energon. It would be a huge victory if they could retrieve even a quarter of what was here.

A soft sound drew their attention to a side tunnel, Bumblebee's head poked out from the shadows. The smaller tunnel led them down around the side of the cavern as Bumblebee filled them in on what he'd seen of the operation.

"There are three drilling rigs, the rest is being done by hand." He pointed to the columns of stone throughout the cave. "Those are load bearing. If we can take those out we can bring the ceiling down."

"That will bring down half the mountain on top of us." Arcee pointed out.

Prime's optics moved over the mining operation. "We'll keep that in mind for our escape. "

He went quiet and they waited as their leader came up with a plan. Arcee edged closer to the tunnel's entrance. She watched as a pair of grunts heaved the heavy crystal sections into the carts, prepping for the next departure. It wouldn't be hard to pick off a few of the Decepticons from here, her gun hummed to life as she thought about it. A sharp yell had her pushing back into the rock wall, her spark pulsing sharply.

"Hurry up, you useless excuses of scrap metal! The sooner you finish the sooner we're back on the ship." The voice dropped. "And that had better be soon, this rock dust is dulling my shine."

Arcee tried to make herself as small as possible as Knock Out came into view. He was far enough away that Arcee felt safe to move back into the tunnel. Against her better judgement she watched as he sauntered around the working Decepticons, yelling at them regularly. Her gaze tracked the way he moved, drinking in the sight even as she knew she shouldn't. Heat bathed her spark and spread through her systems. It was terrible and wonderful, knowing that he was here. The damn mech had been plaguing her thoughts and recharge ever since her capture.

She quietly made her way back to Optimus and Bumblebee.

"They're loading up for the next shipment already. " She reported tersely. "If we can wait for them to do most of the work we can escape quicker."

Optimus nodded. "I would prefer to get what we can and return to base before the Decepticons can call for help."

"I can disable their communications array but that will alert the 'Cons on the Nemesis." Bumblebee said.

Silence ruled for several minutes as they thought about possible plans for extracting as much energon as possible. Arcee hoped Prime wouldn't call on her to come up with a plan; as hard as she tried to stop it, her processor was filling up with thoughts and fantasies of Knock Out. She was slowly starting to hate herself.

In an effort to be productive, she returned to the mouth of the tunnel and watched the Decepticons. Her optics sighted twenty mechs, the rest Bumblebee had seen must be deeper within the mine. The 'Cons she had seen earlier loading the carts now had one and a half full of the crystalized energon. Her tanks gurgled at the sight; if the raw energon wasn't poisonous to them she would have broken off a piece and eaten it like humans did candy. Knock Out was nowhere to be seen.

Prime caught her attention and she returned.

"How much energon is ready to go?"

"They're filling up the second cart now. Another fifteen minutes and they should be moving onto the third."

He nodded. "Bumblebee, I want you and Arcee to secure the carts and prepare depart with the energon. I'll draw the Decepticons into the lower caves. Once there, you two shoot out the columns at the east side of the cave and trap the Decepticons in the rubble."

"But Optimus, that'll cause a cave in." Arcee said. "If you don't get around the Decepticons fast enough, you'll be trapped with them. Let me distract them, I'm smaller and quicker."

Prime didn't respond. Arcee knew he didn't like to send them out into possibly fatal situations but it was also his duty to make sure their team survived and prospered. It was a conflict Arcee was glad she didn't have to face.

Arcee pushed her case. "Prime, you and Bumblebee are stronger than I am. You'll be able to get the energon sections into the carts easier while I lead them through the caves. I'll give you a signal and we'll shoot out the columns. "

Once again Prime didn't respond immediately, instead he stared at them, Bumblebee having moved closer to her in a show of support. Arcee made a mental note to repay him sometime.

"Very well. You'll have to lead the Decepticons away long enough for Bumblebee and I to get the energon loaded and out of the mine. When you can't stay ahead of them safely, comm. us and we'll bring down the ceiling. Don't do anything rash, Arcee, Ratchet will have my plating if you get injured again."

Arcee nodded and shook out her shoulders. It would take all her speed and agility to lead the Decepticons on a chase through the cave system. She just hoped that the path she chose didn't lead to a dead end.

She approached the tunnel entrance carefully; she didn't want the Decepticons to see her before she was well away from the Autobots.

Arcee ducked behind some boulders as she skirted the cavern. She could hear the grunts talking to each other in low voices and stayed on the far side of the machinery. When she was halfway to the deeper tunnels she stood up and shot one of the Decepticons in the chest.

A cry went up and Arcee dashed across the open area towards the tunnels. Blaster fire cut in front of her and she skidded to a stop, looking around her to see if she had everyone's attention. Her gaze stopped and locked on Knock Out. He wore an expression not to different from the one she'd seen as she'd escaped the Nemesis. It quickly changed and heat flooded her spark at the predatory gleam in his optics.

"Catch the Autobot, bring her to me."

His order was sharp and harsh and had Arcee transforming. She reared on her back tyre and tore off away from the Decepticons. She wouldn't be quite so easy to catch this time.

Please review and I will work my butt off to update again as soon as possible.

TammyCat