Everyone got in their groups. They got into position. Blurr handed over Lightwave while Red Alert gaveup Zippy and the protoforms. Bee promised the Carrier that his sparklings were in good hands and that he and Ratchet would take care of transporting everything safely. Blurr gave his babies one last kiss on the head before joining his group at the tunnel entrance. Perceptor handed out comm links he whipped up with some spare parts from teletran.

Everyone was in position. It was time.

"I will see you all at the end of this," Jazz announced "And may Primus be on your sides."

With one last look around everyone went their separate ways. Nobody knew who would make it, or if any of them would make it out alive. All they knew was that the ride to freedom wasn't always smooth, and it wasn't always free.

Red Alert returned to her office as she normally would. She didn't want to draw suspicion. When she arrived to gather her key card she was surprised to find Shockwave standing in the middle of the med-bay.

"Shockwave," she stated unintentionally, drawing his attention "what are you doing here?"

Shockwave slowly turned to face her "I found your key card in the hallway," he started, handing her the metal slip "I thought it best to return it to you."

Red Alert hesitantly plucked the card from his claws and examined it. Something wasn't right "My key card was blue level." She stated, looking at the red line across the bottom "This can't be mine."

"Is your name Wildstrike?"

"…Yes…"

"Are you a doctor?"

"Yes," Red Alert couldn't take her eyes off the card. Shockwave tapped the picture of her face printed on it's surface "And is this your picture?" he asked. Red Alert nodded.

"Then it is your card." Shockwave confirmed, walking past her.

"I don't understand," mumbled Red Alert.

"Considering all of the evidence presented to us, it is safe to assume that it is yours." The large mech looked to her for a moment before leaving "Why? Would you rather have blue level clearance?" with that he was gone, leaving a still slightly baffled Red Alert.

She realized quickly that she didn't have time to dabble in the mystery. Red Alert made her way through the city and into one of the underground research facilities she was allowed into. She'd memorized the maps of the underground so finding her way to the secret research lab was not difficult. It was supposed to be getting in that was the hard part.

That turned out to be a lot easier than anticipated.

Her red level clearance was nearly unlimited. The only bots who had such clearance were Shockwave, Starscream and Blitzwing, three mechs who were much higher in the ranks than her. She didn't question it, though, instead she took what had been given and entered Omega Supreme's hangar with ease. No one even batted an eye when she came in. The doctor traveled unnoticed, surveying the area and finding that none of the scientist doubled as soldiers. The problem was neither did she.

What Red Alert needed was Arcee, who was supposed to join her in the hangar through the underground tunnels when all the explosives had been planted. That was one of the more iffy parts of the plan. While the tunnels were clearly laid out on the maps they were so broad and spread out that navigating them was nearly impossible without a map.

Arcee was confident in her abilities, though, and went along with it. She knew Red Alert would need help in the hangar and with everyone else either pre-occupied, or too old, Arcee volunteered.

Red Alert wandered around, hanging back for most of the time and being sure not to draw attention to herself. She stole a clipboard from the control room just to make it look like she belonged.

Now all she had to do was wait for backup to arrive and figure a way to open the hangar doors, if there were any.

They got Omega Supreme in there. There had to be a way to get him out.

Arcee kept in constant communication with the twins. Instead of flying over the city and dropping bombs the plan was to place them covertly underground, somewhere under important buildings and things in the city, and even right below the streets. Arcee decided to go top side for a few of them just to get a greater effect.

They didn't have much to work with and they didn't have much time to work with it. As soon as Optimus Prime was free the bombs would be set off, Omega Supreme would be free of 'cons, and everyone was to rendezvous in the hangar, if they could find it.

Arcee planted the last set of explosives and set the detonator. She contacted the twins and told them she'd send them the coordinates of the hangar as soon as she got there, for now just keep flying.

"Okay the dokey" Jetfire responded, banking around with Jetstorm right on his tail. They swept the area waiting patiently for their comrade to respond. The wins job had turned into surveillance and bomb placement. Arcee, when the time was right, would send out a first wave of explosives. If anything was amiss, however, the twins would let out another set of bombs, making for a second diversion if one is needed. For now, though, they were meant to contact everyone if anything came up.

Arcee headed to the tunnels for the next half of her mission. Getting to Red Alert was going to be tough, but she was confident she could find her way around. She'd journeyed through these tunnels enough times to know the ropes, know enough about where not to go to get her to where she was going.

Arcee rushed off, recalling routs and counting her steps in her head and being sure not to get lost if it was possible. Despite being familiar with the territory Arcee has gotten lost in here before. She had to keep herself concentrated on the mission and not worry about where she might end up.

After almost a half hour Arcee stopped. She looked around, took note of the lighting, the smell, the sounds above her, then tried her hardest to recall the map in her head and found that huge aspects of the lay out were missing from her processor. She strained herself to remember but couldn't recall whether something was this way or that, whether she turned down this hallway or that hallway. It almost made her panic, not knowing where she was and having to make a guess that could mean life or death for her and possibly others.

It puts a lot of strain on a bot.

She looked at the ceiling. There was a door above her.

Arcee strapped her gun securely on her hip, took a second to gather herself, then shut down her thoughts and doubts for a moment and took a leap of faith, jumping up to push the door open. It was old and nearly rusted shut so it took two quick pushed before it broke open and moved aside just enough for Arcee to grab onto the ledge. She hoisted herself up and climbed out of the tunnel into a small, dark, empty space.

She was both worried and relieved.

Relieved she didn't end up in the middle of some other top secret project surrounded by Decepticons, and worried that she was still in the wrong place.

Brushing away her doubts once again she slowly approached a door just visible on the other side of the room. With shaking servos she grasped the knob, opened the door, and peaked out slightly.

The sight before her was both astonishing and sad. One of the greatest things Autobot scientists have ever created, standing before a horde of Decepticon scientists, trying to break into it's system. It was an enraging sight. The perfect motivator.

She closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, giving herself a mini pep talk and trying to keep her head on straight as a new found determination built inside of her to get Omega and everyone else out of here safely.

"Okay Arcee" she breathed "Don't go in there guns 'a blazin', you need to think rationally about this. There are one hundred of them and one of you…One whose going to kick their Decepticon afts." She nearly smirked to herself then gathered again. She had Decepticon colors on, she could blend in, find Red Alert, devise a better plan than going in blind.

She slipped out of the room and walked about the base with very few people greeting her with suspicious optics. It was clear a few found her presence strange but no one went any further than looking at her.

Arcee managed, by some miracle, to make her way up to the control room without being caught. By the door she found Red Alert staring blankly at Omega Supreme "Red," Arcee whispered gruffly "We weren't prepared for this," she said, gesturing the room full of Decepticons "There are hundreds of them." She kept her voice low "Blurr didn't say there were hundreds."

"He only made it into the room once—there could have been less."

"What do we do, there's only two of us."

"…We can take them."

"Are you kidding!?"

"It's not like you weren't thinking it." Snapped the doctor, throwing her colleague a sharp glance. She looked back to Omega Supreme "Well we have to do something, everyone else is counting on us."

Before Arcee could reply a loud voice called in their direction "hey!" it boomed, the owner approaching the two femmes. The head scientist, the mech who had reported Blurr, approached the pair with an irked tenseness about them. Arcee and Red Alert tried to stay calm as the mech came closer.

"I don't think I've ever seen you here before." he stated to neither in particular.

"I'm new to the project sir," Red Alert started "Orders from Shockwave himself."

The stiff bot narrowed his eyes in suspicion "Present your ID card." He demanded. Red Alert quickly presented her card. The superior looked it over for a moment before handing it back "You're clear," he confirmed, then turning to Arcee "You," he stated "Let me see your ID." He demanded, his tone holding more skepticism than before.

Arcee hesitated; she looked to Red Alert for answers, but already knew there were one. The only answer she had was latched to her thigh.

After a moment she calmed "I have it right here." She mumbled, then quickly taking her weapon out of it's socket and blasting the inquisitor in the chest. The blast knocked him back unconscious and silenced the entire room.

Red Alert stared in shock while Arcee looked un-phased.

"Arcee!" Red Alert screamed, astounded by her comrades chosen course of action.

"What?" Arcee complained "We had to start somehow."

Before they knew it mechs who were not meant to fight were all over them. Throwing lousy punches that were easily dodged. Arcee was spinning, shooting, punching and breaking off arms all over the place. Red Alert did the same, but a bit less graceful. She took a bit more punches but the femme could take a hit better than most. Working in the field is not a peaceful place, a hit here and there had nothing on her.

The endeavor took only forty five minutes. By the end Arcee and Red Alert had killed or severely injured all of the mechs at their disposal.

Arcee's vents flared on and off as she stood amongst the energon covered horde of bodies. Their blood dripped from her pistol and finger tips. It stained her chassis and slipped down her frame to cover the once purple surface.

She took a moment to regain herself, and after she did a realization came to mind. She decided it best not to voice it, not this close to escape. The fact that, no matter how many either side killed, no matter how long they spent fighting and dying, and enslaving and escaping, no one was ever going to win this war, didn't matter right now.

Arcee stood up straight, shifting her pistol back into it's housing. She turned to Red Alert, standing only few paces behind her "Red," she called, hopping from the pile of bodies and heading towards her partner "Make sure no one moves, I'm going to check out the control room, see if I can figure this out. Hopefully something Blurr had on the drive will have the answers." She took her gun out again and held it by the nose "Or downloading the entire thing would have been for nothing," she held the blaster out to Red Alert "If anyone starts moving," she pushed the gun towards her partner "Shoot them." Instructed the spy bot, then hopping away through the field of bodied to make her way up to the control panel.

Red Alert stayed behind and watched the bodies. She looked around the energon covered room the looked up to Omega Supreme. She blindly climbed over the downed masses and made her way to the leg of the oversized Autobot. She rested her hand lightly upon it, amazed at the fact that he was still around, and hoping that this time, his life would be just a little bit better. She knew the history of Omega Supreme well enough to know that history, in his case, was on the verge of repeating itself. She lowered her head sullenly, looking at the destruction just two bots had caused, and the thoughts in her processor, matched the realization in Arcee's.

But she too chose not to voice it. So all doubts were left unheard. Nobody needed doubts at this point.

Arcee hopped up the stairs and came to the control room. She stoped stiff when she got there, seeing that she was not alone.

A massive figure, who lived up to his names, sending shivers of fear up Arcee's spine, stood in the control room, staring down at the panel riddled with the blood of his colleagues.

Arcee stayed still.

He hadn't seen her yet. The former intelligence agent knew fully well that neither she nor Red Alert could take on Shockwave, even together.

So she stood, hesitant to back away, but having no place else to go. She hoped to Primus that he wouldn't notice her, but she knew it was almost inevitable.

Before she had another thought the dark room was flooded with the light of a large red optic, staring down at the intruder frozen in the doorway. Arcee had a split second if courage and drew the blades she had, taking a defensive position. Then she was frozen again, waiting anxiously for the ruthless Decepticon to attack and kill her, but she wouldn't go down without a fight.

After a moment Shockwave lifted his hand. Arcee flinched and he stopped. A few seconds later he started again, this time both parties kept a close eye on each other, both ready to strike or defend, whoever attacks first.

Shockwave slowly lifted his servo above the control panel and lowered it onto a button. Nothing seemed to happen.

He then moved across the board, still keeping close watch on Arcee, and let his hand fall upon the keyboard where he typed in a code and pressed enter. After the deed was done he lowered the hand, turned to the door, and left.

Arcee stood baffled. Lowering her blades and watching the Decepticon walk away. She didn't know what to make of it, what had just occurred?

Instead of dwelling on it, though, she met with Red Alert on the first floor and told her of the endeavor.

"Red Alert!" called the agent, jogging up to her colleague "You'll never believe what just happened."

The doctor dropped the body she'd been dragging and joined her comrade, concerned slightly at Arcee's condition. She went away fine and came back stiff with shock and disbelief. Her optics were wide and her breaths remained heavy.

"What happened?" Asked Red Alert, creasing her brow with curiosity and concern "You were gone for five minutes. What could have possibly-?"

"Shockwave," Arcee huffed, pulling a surprised expression from the doctor "Shockwave," said the intel agent again "He was just here, he's going to report us, or bring back up, or something, we need to hide, contact the others, the missions been compromised."

Red Alert thought for a moment "I don't think that's necessary," she started slowly, unsure of her thoughts "I think we're safe. Remember Shockwave let Blurr go. If he wanted to hurt us he would have done it himself."

"Are you kidding?" Arcee challenged, surprised that such a rational person would be thinking this way "He's a Decepticon, I doubt he has any soft spots for us, the Autobots."

"…Blurr's an Autobot."

Arcee lightened a bit. Red Alert continued "Notice the lack of alarms? I did. Blurr was set free, there are no alarms and he didn't kill you. I know you're painted purple but I know Shockwave is smart enough to see through the charade. Plus he gave me this," she whipped out her ID card "Red Level Clearance, the same clearance as him. I don't have Red Level, but he told me I did." She put the card away "I don't think he's coming back. I don't think any Decepticon is going to find us, and if I'm wrong…" she paused, unsure of what to say here "I will be very surprised."

Cliffjumper and Jazz followed the blue racer through dank dark tunnels with little to no hesitation. Blurr was sure he knew where he was going, but, frankly, he wasn't positive. He'd only gone to see Optimus once and while he was an intelligence agent, he wasn't positive his processor hadn't been worn from lack of use and repeated blows to the head. It wasn't as though Shockwave hit lightly.

Blurr continued on, though, ignoring anything he couldn't remember and concentrating on the detail that he did know of. Such as the smell or burnt rubber that got stronger the closer one got to the prison cell, and the occasional scream or wale way off in the distance. Blurr followed the scent of burnt rubber and listened carefully for the light wales that, in some cases, only his audio receptors could pick up. He counted his steps, hoping that when he hit the number of steps he'd taken he'd remember how many that was.

Blurr was still fast, that much was true, but he was slower now. He could absorb information as he has always been able to, but not as much as he used to be able to, and the ability to quickly access that information had burnt out almost completely.

Despite all this Blurr was determined to go on as he usually had. He wasn't going to allow his new found handicaps to prevent him from completing this mission. He didn't care about the scars Shockwave had left on his body and mind, he had a duty to his fellow Autobots, and he would complete that duty even if it killed him, and he would use the skills he had, even if he didn't have them anymore.

It was only just now, while Blurr lead his colleague's through he tunnels, that he realized just how much he'd forgotten. Blurr assumed he had this in the bag, he thought getting there would be easy, but now it appeared as though getting there would be the hardest part.

Blurr stopped at a fork in the tunnel. He panicked on the inside, knowing that he had no clue where to go from here, and suddenly hoping he'd been going the right way the entire time, but worried that he hadn't been.

Cliffjumper crossed his arms with a scowl "Do you even know where you're going?" he asked skeptically. Blurr half frowned "Of course I know where I'm going." He lied, surveying the tunnels before him. After a few moments he got an idea that might just save his aft.

He put an audio receptor to one wall, then the other and listened carefully to what might be on the other side. After a few minutes of this Cliffjumper scoffed "You're wasting time, just pick one." He demanded impatiently.

"If we take one wrong turn we'll get lost, I need to make sure." Blurr explained, equally as cross. Cliffjumper almost seemed to growl "I knew you didn't know where you were going." He accused "We should have never followed you in here."

Blurr stomped over to the mini bot and stuck a finger in his face "Well what else were you going to do!" he challenged "I know a lot more about these tunnels than you. What were you going to do? Guess?" Blurr asked, almost baffled at Cliffjumper's blind distrust "The only hope you have at finding your way through these tunnels is through me, so stop complaining." Blurr demanded before Cliffjumper exploded "You were not our only option! We could have found plenty of bots to get us through here, but we ended up with you for whatever reason. Somehow I doubt you actually know where you're going."

Blurr couldn't look at his fellow Autobot as he was backed into the wall. Cliffjumper wasn't entirely right, but he wasn't wrong.

"I'm right aren't I?" Cliffjumper stated "What is it? Too many hits to the head?" he growled. Before the enraged mini bot could say any more Jazz took him by the shoulder and dragged him back "Now let's just cool it for a second." He proposed, then looking to Blurr "Blurr, do you know where you're going?" he asked, his voice level but laced with concern.

Blurr didn't know what to tell him "Yes," he said after a moment "But it's blurry. I know we're in the right place but whether or not we'll end up in the right place is still a mystery to me."

Cliffjumper scoffed quietly "I'm surprised you don't remember less. After every hit you've taken, I don't know why we even trusted you."

Suddenly enrage Blurr took a step forward "Now is not the time to be insulting me!" he raged, taking the minibot by surprise "Yes! I was abused and used as a slave, and I did get beat up every day for the first year and half I stayed with that Primus damned monster! But that doesn't matter now! So quite acting like it does! I can lead you to the cell, I just need to think, I need to think for just one second, and if you think you could do any better, then be my guest! But nobody knows these tunnels as well as the Elite Guard intelligence agents." Blurr huffed, calming himself "And I used to be one of those." He whispered at the end.

After a few seconds Blurr took a seat. He held his head and squeezed, trying to force the information out. He knew the rout, he did. The problem was that at this point in the road there wasn't a fork, there was a dead end and a turn to the right. The tunnels didn't line up.

Blurr had to create a different rout in his head. He had to think over everything he knew 'Okay,' he thought to himself 'You know how to do this, you've done this one hundred times before, if you can't remember the way through a few measly tunnels, then what kind of intelligence agent are you? A lousy one, that's it, but you weren't a lousy one, you were one of the best that has ever gone into the field. Getting off topic! So if we go right we'll be behind the dead end, that would make sense, but then we'll have to go back and make it to the same rout I took to get to the cell, which would be the only option, so I want to assume there's an alternative rout somewhere in the middle of this tunnel. Should I check it out first? Yes, I should.' Without a word to his colleague's Burr rushed down the right tunnel, stunning the bots traveling with him.

The journey only took a few seconds. In that time Blurr ran nearly all the way down the tunnel, hitting only one turn on his journey that went right. He quickly took the rout and ended up back in a familiar place he believed to be parallel to the journey he took the first time. After the rout was set he raced back to his colleagues and told them to follow.

They did without question, racing with their fellow Autobot through the intricate tunnel system. Neither could really keep up with Blurr but they tried their hardest and Blurr certainly wasn't above waiting for them, making sure they at least knew which way to go before taking off entirely.

The journey hastened as Blurr began to properly recollect the trail. With every new turn, scent, and sound he remembered more and more, now becoming sure he was going the right way, without question.

When they reached the last obstacle, a wall separating the prison from the tunnels, the group had come prepared. They knew that once Optimus was out all hell would break loose, so they decided to work quickly and get as close to the cell as they could. Having only made it to the interrogation room Blurr was not entirely sure where that was, so they settled for the interrogation room.

Before setting off their own explosives Jazz contacted Red Alert and Arcee, telling them to let loose half their load. Arcee gladly pressed the activation button, sending waves of explosives through the city, including the ones in the old weapons bay Blurr had reported. As those went off Jazz set their own which went off only a few minutes after the initial attack.

They blew right into the interrogation area. When they reached the next door it was already open, courtesy of Blitzwing who, after delivering the favor, slammed his head into the monitor and allowed himself to fall back onto the bodies he'd already taken care of.

The three bots worked quickly, taking very little time to incapacitate the three guards standing watch of their desired prisoner. One of three was an informant, so he took a lighter beating, but still took a beating to protect himself when someone went back over the video feed to see exactly what had happened.

One Thing Blitzwing couldn't do for them was open the bars of Optimus's cell. That was an entirely different control panel.

As Jazz worked on hacking the lock red lights and booming buzzers flooded the prison. Guards rushed down the breached corridors leaving the three saviors only three minutes to free their colleague and leave.

Jazz worked the best he could to little avail. The lock was not something easily hacked into, for good reason. Megatron wasn't stupid. He was well aware of how diligent and competent the Autobots were. He assumed that eventually they would bounce back and he was aware that one of their main targets would be their beloved new leader, Optimus Prime. He had a failsafe in place for almost anything the Autobots might attempt.

What he didn't account for, however, was his own Decepticons betraying the system.

With the assistance of Blitzwing, and other parties, the Autobots had an advantage Megatron did not assume they possessed. They knew the system, they had people to shut it down, they had soldiers and hackers and intelligence agents who had lost a good portion of their hope, but not a lot of their skill. Megatron and the Decepticons may be intelligent and powerful and they may be able to persevere, but the Autobots would always bounce back. If one with the ideals of the first remains the cause will never be blown out. Not entirely.

With the clock counting down from three minutes to two, Cliffjumper's impatience grew "Just shoot it!" he suggested angrily. Jazz scowled "We can't shoot it!" he countered, pushing the enraged minibot back a bit "It has several failsafe devices in place. Megatron and his 'con's aren't stupid. They wouldn't create a system that you could just use brute force on."

Cliffjumper huffed and went back to stand by the entrance they created, Blurr sanding a few paces away in front of the main entrance. They heard the cries of guards and ring of alarms, so loud it almost felt silent. Blurr sent glanced to Cliffjumper. He was well aware of the possible outcome of this situation.

"Cliffjumper." He called to the stiff minibot. The red mech looked at him. His face attempted to hide his fear with a stoic look, but Blurr could see it in his Optics. He didn't think they'd survive this either.

Blurr put out his hand "It was an honor being able to serve beside you." He said, throwing the minibot for a curve. Cliffjumper looked at the hand for a moment, then took it in a tough grip that demonstrated the strength the minibot held "You too." He said, with very little hesitation. Cliffjumper may not trust the blue bot entirely, but he would give credit where credit was due, and Blurr, though he hated to admit it, deserved a lot of credit.

Cliffjumper nearly hated himself for it, but he almost marveled at Blurr's abilities. Cliffjumper had his share of abuse while stuck in the system, but he was tough, he'd seen war's worse than anything that green femme could spit out. War affected the processor, but so did getting hit, or being forced to interface. Cliffjumper marveled at Blurr's ability to peruse. Blurr had been in battle, he's seen what the Decepticons can do and he's experienced it. He's been beaten and kicked around, he's been forced onto the berth everyday for three stellar cycles, he was a Carrier who still carried his little ones wherever he went. He was fully willing to fight this battle carrying two more little ones in his chest. He was completely willing to die for them and any of his fellow Autobots. And through his time with Shockwave, forced into being a Carrier and taking care of them sparklings. Every time he felt depressed, or was being tortured, or went on a mission that didn't end well. Every time he was forced into the berth and saddled with another little burden, every time he fell upon almost any misfortune—he was alone.

Every bot needed someone. Veterans needed someone to help them forget, or help them remember. But Blurr had no one, and even alone, having to deal with everything the world threw at him, he was able to keep his sanity.

Cliffjumper admired that, if nothing else.

So as the two stood before the doors Cliffjumper shook the hand presented to him, because Blurr was going to fight beside someone, something Blurr had not been able to do in a very, very long time.

The two parted hands and went back to their positions. Nerves tensed as alarms seemed to grow louder along with the footsteps tapping to their beat. As Cliffjumper and Blurr got into a ready stance, ready to fight through the horde no matter the cost, a loud "Got it!" rang out in the other room. A moment later Jazz and Optimus Prime emerged from the prison.

Optimus spared little time with introduction. He didn't take command either. Instead he followed he saviors out and into the infrequent tunnel system.

As the three followed Blurr through the tunnels they were chased by a horde of Decepticons who had followed them through the hole in the wall. Eventually this large group of soldiers overtook the smaller group and they were forced to fight. Blurr couldn't hit hard, but he could run fast, so instead of punches he used their own frustrations against them while the rest used the skills they had gained in the multiple battle's they'd fought in over the years.

Despite the four Autobot's efforts the Decepticon masses were too large, there was no way they could continue to fight. Blurr was already exhausted but kept zipping around because if he didn't he'd be dead. Optimus didn't tire easily but even he was becoming fatigued. Cliffjumper was in the same boat.

Jazz eventually fell, over taken by the gunshot wounds and overwhelming amount of dents in his armor, he threw one last punch before being over taken along with the rest of his group. Their hands were held behind their backs and their heads were held to the ground as the head guard took a stance before them. He scowled, inspecting the catch before they would be dragged back to cells.

"A minor, a slave, a toy and a prisoner." He stated, then cocking a disgusting grin "You all make it seem like we don't know who you are. Who's idea was it to send the most well-known slaves to retrieve the most well-known Autobot?" the grin disappeared "The prisoner will return to his cell and the slaves will be executed." He demanded, then looking to Blurr "The toy-" he seemed to be considering a few options "Will be returned to it's owner" he finally declared, then leaving his lackeys to take care of the job.

As everyone began to move Jazz looked around. He noticed the stoic looks on Optimus and Cliffjumper's face's, taking note of the fear and disappointment dimming their optics. They were going to die here. Optimus would be stuck in prison forever. Jazz and Cliffjumper would die and Blurr would return to where he began. They were fates that were not part of the plan, and Jazz couldn't help but feel like a failure. Optimus Prime put him in charge. He'd trusted Jazz to take care of the Autobot uprising, he was supposed to keep the group together, keep them sane, keep them calm, and now…now all he could manage was getting them killed.

But that's not how Jazz wanted to go out.

With one swift move, running on fumes, Jazz flew his head forward them flung it back as hard as he could, leaving a significant dent in his captors chest. With the con's hands loosened from shock Jazz forced himself from the grip and roundhouse kicked the con in the face. As this occurred Decepticon guards were on him almost instantly. In the commotion the rest of the Autobot team followed in suit and broke from their bonds.

With a new found energy Jazz jumped about the horde, drawing all the fire that could fall upon his comrades. He was broken, and should barely be able to move, but he wouldn't stop. "Go!" he screamed to his baffled team, praying they'd vacate before backup arrived. When they didn't move, refusing to leave him and stop fighting, he screamed again "Go!" he screamed again.

"Jazz-!" Optimus tried to protest, but Jazz wouldn't have it

"I was put in charge of this team Optimus!" he yelled before being smacked in the face with the blunt of a gun "And I am going to get this team out of here! Now GO!" he demanded, not taking no for an answer. His team was forced to fight their way through the guards but their load was much lighter. Jazz wouldn't let them be taken, he would take on a thousand if it meant everyone else would be safe, and he wouldn't stop fighting until either there was nobody left to fight, or he was dead.

He knew the latter was more likely.

"Come on!" he screamed at his attackers, drawing almost all of the attention towards himself. He watched through the crowed as Optimus, Cliffjumper and Blurr ran away, hoping to Primus they'd be alright. He knew they weren't home free, but his efforts would buy them time. All he could do was hope it was enough.

"We can't just leave him back there!" Cliffjumper insisted after the group had reached far enough into the tunnels they'd lost the rest of the guards.

"We have to push on." Optimus countered "We need to keep moving, keep going with whatever it is you all have planned."

"We never leave a man behind!"

"He is your leader Cliffjumper-!"

"No you're our leader!"

At that Optimus fell silent for a moment "You're right." He agreed "I am, but I wasn't when he gave the order. We're going to honor his last order, and we are going to complete the mission. Going back now and getting ourselves captured will accomplish nothing, and that is not why Jazz sacrificed himself." Optimus pushed on "We're completing your mission." He looked to Blurr "Blurr." He started sternly, drawing the blue bot to attention.

"Sir?" he questioned, almost hesitantly.

"You know the way through these tunnels right?" Optimus inquired.

"Uh, mostly."

"Was it your job to get them to me?"

"Yes-"

"Well now it's your job to get us to wherever we need to be. Now, considering the alarms that just went off in this high security prison I want to assume whatever diversion you all had in mind is now falling flat. I trust you have a—back up?" Optimus was almost skeptical of this small groups ability to get themselves together, but not overly so.

"Yes sir," Blurr confirmed "We'll activate that right now."

Cliffjumper took the hint and comm'd the twins. He told them to start activating bombs and stay out of sight, they were on their way. After everything was dropped the twins were ordered to rendezvous at Omega Surpeme, they would be taking off from there.

The three bots began their journey through the tunnels, Optimus and Cliffjumper doing their best to keep up with Blurr. The speedster slowed down as much as he could but found it difficult to keep a steady pace that was slower than his usual one. Every time he tried to slow down he eventually ended up speeding up.

Blurr knew the tunnels well enough to get them to where they were going. He'd studied the rout on a few occasions and, despite the possible damage done to his processor, was confident in his ability to get them to where they needed to be.

With a few wrong turns and confusing moment, the now smaller group managed to make it to Omega Supreme's hanger in less than a mega cycle. Which was good because the cons were no longer being diverted by the explosions.

When the three arrived they were met by the two femme's.

"Where are the twins?" asked Cliffjumper "And Ratchet and Bumblebee and Perceptor?"

"On their way," Answered Arcee "I just contacted Bee and the others, they're on their way. I can't get ahold of the twins, though. Their comms are coming in cold."

"They were just flying over the city right?"

"That's what they were supposed to be doing, yes, but, well, you know the twins…" she trailed off, not entirely sure what she was trying to say but hoping the rest of the group would know what she was getting at.

Optimus looked around "Should we send a search party?" he proposed. It was only then that Arcee and Red Alert noticed him. Arcee perked up significantly "Optimus," she started, stepping through the group to greet him. They shook hands "It's good to see you again." Was all either could really say. Red Alert came to greet him also, with a greeting just as dry as Arcee's had been. No one knew entirely what to say to Optimus Prime. He was their friends a colleague, but it had been a while since any one had seen him, and it wasn't as though they were meeting under overly desirable circumstances.

Arcee looked around the group, just noticing their lack of members "Where's Jazz?" she asked in a lower tone than normal, fearful of what could have happened but not overly surprised. Just disappointed.

The small group let their heads down, almost unwilling to look at Arcee "He-" Cliffjumper tried to start, still cross about the fact that they'd decided to leave him behind.

"He—didn't make it out." Optimus explained in a somber tone "Or at least we assume. He—he sacrificed himself to get us out…"

Arcee was in shock, but somehow she'd expected someone wouldn't make it out. Her mind never led her to believe it would be Jazz, though. Her shock quickly dwindled into determination "To get us out." She repeated, mostly to herself "Then it looks like we'll have to get out, now doesn't it?" she said, just the slightest bit of smirk twitching her lips. She looked to Optimus "Optimus," she called sternly.

"Uh, yes ma'am" answered Optimus, slightly flustered by the former intel bot's intenseness.

"I know you're our leader, but, considering we just got you out of prison, I hope nobody minds if I take the lead from here." She proposed, realizing that, until Jazz came to the group, she'd been running this little rag tag team of Autobots.

No one objected to the proposal, not even Cliffjumper. After that had been determined Arcee got to work.

"Alright then." She started "The Jet Twins haven't replied to us yet. That makes me worry. Blurr, Red Alert, head top side and check out the sky, see if they're anywhere near the meeting point. Cliffjumper and Optimus keep an eye on these tunnels, there are entry points all around here. While we assume the alarm system has been shut down I'd rather play it safe. Look out for Bee and the rest too, while you're at it. I'll-"

"How did you shut down the alarms?" Optimus Interrupted, then immediately regretted it as Arcee shot him a glare. The glare wasn't entirely on purpose but it had the desired effect "Uh, ma'am." He started "I'm just wondering. I know that they're encrypted with Decepticon codes. Only high ranking Decepticons can shut them down manually."

Arcee's face twisted slightly, unsure whether or not she should reveal who it was who'd helped them. After a moment she answered "Shockwave." She said, trying to be blunt, but mostly failing "Shockwave shut down the security system. He also made it possible for Red Alert to get in here."

Blurr was taken aback, but said nothing. Apparently Shockwave wanted him gone more than he'd originally assumed. Arcee looked to the shocked Blurr "I think he likes you more than you thought Blurr." She stated, then going back to what she was saying before.

"Now," The purple intel bot looked about the group "Does everyone know what they're doing?"

Everyone nodded with a "yes ma'am" and waited for her to give the order before heading off.

"Great," Arcee confirmed "I'll be figuring out how to get Omega moving. Now lets go!"

Everyone broke off into their given positions.

Red Alert and Blurr made it to a top side tunnel. Blurr switched into a less conspicuous color before climbing through the hole, up into an alleyway. Red Alert climbed through first and helped him up "How are you feeling?" she inquired, throwing Blurr off.

"What do you mean?" he asked, as they walked plainly into the streets, which were mostly empty now due to emergency evacuations and curfew, put into effect as a result of the terrorist attacks.

"The sparklings," Red Alert confirmed "You are still carrying you know. I'm surprised you're able to do all of this in your condition, those sparklings were due any day, now it could be megacycles Blurr."

"So what?" he asked, keeping a close eye on the sky's

"This much movement could hurt both you and them. I'm not telling you to stop I just want you to be aware."

Blurr didn't say anything for a moment. He tried to comm the twins, keeping his mind off the pain in his chest. When he got no reply he looked back at Red Alert "They're tugging," he said, almost hoping she didn't hear. The doctor shot him a glare "They're tugging!" she raged quietly "Why haven't you said anything! How long has this been going on? You should have-"

"I should have been able to help Jazz and the others. But I couldn't because I was exhausted, because of these stupid little things." He punched his chest almost as hard as he could. As soon as his fist bounced off Red Alert caught it, preventing him from doing it again "There's nothing you could have done."

Blurr looked straight ahead "You weren't there," he said quietly. He turned to look at her. It was then the doctor could see it. The despair, the desperation, the depression, and loss of hope. Blurr was just a shell, even more now than he was when they first met. The sparklings in his chest had feasted on everything he'd had left inside. Watching a friend go cracked the surface and let everything left bleed out.

"There was plenty we could have done." Blurr whispered, trying to keep himself calm, but finding it took little effort. Blurr was broken. He could barely feel anything anymore, and when he did feel it was messed up. It was always sorrow and when he was happy it felt wrong, as though this wasn't an emotion he deserved any more. His expression darkened to a desperate tone "But I don't feel anything." He said quietly "I don't feel sad. I don't feel disappointed. There's just…nothing." He said, desperate to feel something again. Desperate to escape the world he'd been subject to, desperate to simply disappear. Blurr had hoped getting out would be the answer to his sorrows, that leaving slavery, leaving Cybertron, would heal him. Now, though, he wasn't so sure the damage was irreversible. Because no matter how far away he got he would always be Shockwave's, he would always have Shockwave, and he would always have the memories of what Shockwave had done to him. Scars would still cover the surface of his plating; there would still be remnants of abuse left on his processor and the strands of Shockwave's spark in his chest. He would always have the sparklings that were forced upon him by that monster, he would always have everything Shockwave had given to him, and Shockwave made sure he would keep it. Nothing would change except who Blurr would be interfaceing with.

Red Alert released his fist and took a small step back "In time," she said quietly, then looking to the sky, half hoping to spot the twins "Believe me Blurr, right now-" she looked back at him "You don't want to feel anything."

Blurr joined her in looking at the sky once more. Neither saw anything, but neither paid a great deal of attention. With everything that was going on and had gone on, they were surprised anyone could stay completely concentrated on the mission.

Cliffjumper and Optimus looked out for the rest of the group while also looking out for anyone coming to defend the hanger. No one came for an entire Megacycle. A few minutes after than Ratchet and the rest showed up and explained their comms weren't working correctly. The message didn't get through until a half hour after it was sent and by then they were lost in the tunnels.

"I'm afraid the Jet twins might be in the same boat." Said Arcee, coming to greet the rest of the group "They haven't replied to our hails. I'm afraid now that they might be lost in the tunnels."

"Well, they are young and they were meant for the sky, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they got themselves lost." Said Ratchet, then looking up at Omega Surpeme "How's he doing?" he asked, barely concentrating on the words coming out of his mouth.

"I can't get him to turn on. I can't even get inside." Explained Arcee.

"Hm, strange."

Perceptor cut in "I may be able to assist, if someone would be so kind as to get me up there." He offered, then looking to Ratchet "Ratchet, you may be able to do more than I. You are the most familiar with Omega Supreme's inner workings."

Ratchet shook his head "I don't know, Percy, you're the one who put in the program to keep Decepticons out."

"Yes, but my Processor is not what it used to be. If I cannot figure it out, you will probably end up being more useful than me in this matter."

The old medic shrugged "If you insist." he sighed.

Before Arcee led the pair up to Omega Supreme's head she instructed Bumblebee to figure out how to open the hangar doors in the control room.

"But- what do I do with the sparklings?" he asked, looking between the one tucked in the sling and the other he'd been holding.

"Just hold onto them!" she called, hopping onto a lift that took them all the way to Omega Supreme's head.

Bee let out a small sigh and made his way up to the control room. He set Lightwave against the wall, blindly trusting her to stay put. As soon as the baby was released and her caretaker's back was turned, she began to wander. The baby waddled mostly on her stomach, sometimes making it into a full on crawl. She wandered towards the bright lights and buttons of the control board as Bee tried desperately to keep his head on straight.

Flustered, Bee looked about the panel "What the heck are all these buttons!" he called, not knowing what would happen when he pressed any of them. Nothing was labeled and randomly pressing buttons on a control panel connected to a top secret Decepticon hanger probably wasn't the best idea. So Bee didn't do anything. Instead he turned around, ready to grab the sparkling and tell his superiors that he was clueless. When he went to retrieve the baby, however, and found her missing, he had a short instance of panic before spotting the little thing on the other side of the room.

Lightening a bit Bumblebee plucked the child from the ground and held her up in front of his face "You, my little Decepticon baby, are more trouble than you're worth." He half joked. A second later Lightwave changed color, throwing Bee off guard. He held the little thing closer, now cradling it in his arms again "Hm, looks like you've got a gift from your daddy." He started, tickling her chin "Well I'm sure that's going to be a problem for you later." He grumbled, making his way back down to the main bay.

By that time Blurr and Red Alert had returned, having not sighted the jet twins. As soon as Bumblebee spotted Blurr he ran to the speedster and shoved the first sparkling into his arms "Blurr, please take these back," he demanded, carefully removing the sling and handing that over as well "I don't know how you deal with those little monsters. They wouldn't stop crying, oh Primus, my audio receptors!" he cried, wandering away.

"They were probably hungry." Blurr explained calmly. He looked to Red Alert, unsure whether or not to feed them now, or wait "Should I-" he started, but didn't finish.

"Your choice." Red Alert stated "Things are calm now but keep your guard up. As soon as we find the twins we'll be gone, but until then…who knows what could happen?"

Blurr made the slightly difficult decision not to feed them. He was low on energy and didn't want anything else to affect his performance. Like Red Alert said, who knows what could happen?

"Alright we're in, now how do we turn it on?" asked Arcee, hopping through the entrance after Ratchet and Perceptor "How do we turn him on." Ratchet corrected.

"Right, him. How do we turn him on?" Arcee asked again, approaching the control panel.

"Just leave that to us. I suggest you go down and take care of the rest of the group. I'm sure they're all becoming impatient with all of this." Ratchet looked around for a moment, thinking "Where's Jazz?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"He-" Arcee had to pause "He didn't make it." She spit out.

Ratchet simply nodded. He'd been through enough battles to know what it felt like when someone was missing "Then I'm guessing you put yourself in charge." He stated, looking at Omega's control panel.

"Yes," confirmed the femme "Optimus-"

"I know the reason, Arcee, no reason to share. Now go and keep the peace, like you're supposed to."

Arcee wanted to say something, but refrained. There wasn't really anything to say. She made her way down to the group, but as she did her comm came to life with static. The remnants of voices could be heard every few seconds, jumping her to attention

"We-fzzzt-go—fft-down—emergency! Emergen-" then the message cut off back into static "Jet fire!" Arcee called into he comm, trying to get the signal back "Jet Fire! Jet Storm! Do you read. I repeat-" she suddenly gave up on the comm, realizing that it wouldn't get her anywhere.

When she was on the ground she ran to the rest of the group and called them all together "I just got a distress call from the twins." She announced "I don't know where they are. I'm sending a search party to look for them. Blurr, go topside, Red Alert, you too, Cliffjumper search the tunnels, don't go too far. Everyone else keep watch. I don't know if we'll find them, but Primus knows we can try."

She gave the order and everyone parted, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

"We've captured two of the terrorists Lord Megatron." Starscream reported "We found them flying over the city. They haven't admitted anything, of course, but I'm sure Lugnut will be able to persuade them."

"Good." Megatron confirmed "Do not fail me Starscream. I want to know who these terrorists are and what they plan to do next. I don't care if I have to tear out their processors to do it." He said in a dark tone, growing lower with the threat "I'm sending Shockwave down there to assist in the process. If they don't say anything in a megacycle he'll know what to do."

Starscream scowled at the thought of Shockwave taking over this seemingly trivial operation "My lord, I don't think that's-"

"Are you going to disobey me Starscream?" Asked Megatron, testily.

"Of course not, Megatron." Starscream confirmed, a disgusted scowl still twisting his features "I wouldn't dream of it." A moment later he hung up and had a short fit before making his way back to the interrogation room where a pair of beat up jets sat back to back. He examined the injured bots, who had been shot out of the sky shortly after they let loose the second wave of bombs.

"I know you think you're clever, Autobot, but whatever you have planned, it won't work while you two are stuck here. Just tell us where the rest of your cohorts are and what you plan on doing, and we'll let you go." Offered the deceitful jet.

Jetfire scowled up at the much larger bot "You are lying, crazy Decepticon." He countered "We have nothing going on. We are delivery bots."

"Liars!" Starscream screeched "I know you're part of something much more sinister! Now tell me your plan!"

The twins looked at each other, then back to Starscream. After a moment they shrugged "We had delivery on fifth street at three o'clock." Said Jetfire, only enraging their interrogator even further.

Blurr ran about the city, but he wasn't looking for the jet twins. He was looking for the capital building, where he used to live. If they had been taken anywhere it would have been there. Other than that one assumption Blurr knew that they were there. He could feel it. He knew it because Shockwave knew it, and while it wasn't a present fact in his processor, it was an overwhelming feeling in his spark. Blurr snuck back to the underground tunnels and made his way to the basement of the building. That was where the Decepticons kept the things civilians shouldn't know about. Such as the "Advanced interrogation" rooms.

Blurr wasn't sure how to approach this. His comm wasn't functioning properly, and he was miles away from where the hanger was. He was alone, and had no idea who was down there, or where to even start looking for the twins. Not to mention the fact that he's much smaller than the Decepticons, and, on top of all that, exhausted. Blurr had few to no options.

So he decided to wait.

In the course of one Megacycle Blurr watched Starscream come and go having a fit every time he left the room, and calming down every time he went back in. Blurr watched from a grate set up close to the interrogation room door. It was lucky set up.

He heard the results of the "Advanced interrogation techniques" being used on his colleagues. The sound of the twins screams were deafening to his audio receptors.

He also watched as Shockwave finally arrived, and took the twins away. At that point Blurr followed. He followed Shockwave to his lab, an uneasy sense of familiar falling over him as he entered the familiar hallways. Blurr wasn't afraid of this building. As far as anyone knew Blurr was still Shockwave's pet, and, upon being captured, had been returned to Shockwave to be dealt with.

"What?" asked Shockwave, connecting the twins processor's to a machine "You really thought you could sneak into my lab without me noticing?" he asked.

Blurr was well aware Shockwave knew he was present. Despite this, he refused to reveal himself.

"Back so soon?" he asked in an almost somber tone, opening up Jet fire's processor in order to poke around. Blurr didn't say anything. He prayed to Primus to make his comm link work, so that he could get some back up and get the twins out of here. No such luxury ever came, though.

Shockwave remained silent as he worked on the processors. He made no effort to communicate with Blurr but instead did as Megatron had instructed, and extract the desired information from the jet's processors.

Blurr wasn't really hiding. He hid behind a table right in front of Shockwave's work space. Shockwave couldn't see him, but he didn't have to. When the extraction process was complete Shockwave left the twins and walked to the door. On his way he passed Blurr. The two shared a glance but no words. Shockwave leaned down, causing Blurr to flinch, but he simply placed something on the floor.

When the tank reached the open doorway he stopped "I do not want you back." He said flatly, a hint of sorrow sown into his tone. "But if I return and you are still here…I will have you." With that he was gone, and Blurr was alone with the jet twins.

Blurr grabbed what Shockwave had left him without looking at it, then went to take care of the twins. He helped the half conscious jets to their feet and lead them to the hallway "Can you transform?" he asked as they came to. Jetfire nodded "I- I am thinking so." He answered weakly, then looking to his twin "Jet Storm, brother, are you thinking you can transform?"

It took a moment for the blue jet to answer, but eventually he gave a nod. Blurr looked between them "Good," he confirmed "Because that's the only way you'll be getting out of here without being spotted."

"But Blurr, how will we be doing this?" inquired Jet Fire standing on his own.

Blurr almost smirked "The window of course."

"What window?" Asked JetStorm.

"The one in Shockwave's office. I'll get you in, all you have to do is jump out."

"But-"

"Would you rather go through the entire building because right now that's your only option and this place is crawling with cons. Either jump out or get captured, you choice."

The Jet Twins contemplated for a moment before agreeing to the strange terms. Blurr lead them to Shockwave's vacant office and let them figure it out for themselves. Before Blurr could leave, though, he couldn't help but notice the fact that the large pillow remained in the corner. At first glance Blurr assumed Shockwave just hadn't gotten rid of it yet, but after a bit more unwanted thought, Blurr couldn't help but acknowledge that Shockwave may actually be missing his sparklings.

"So, how do we go about this?" asked Jetfire, looking out the window "Does it open?"

Blurr scoffed at the reasonable question, fully aware they didn't have time to dilly dally. "I don't know," he said, rushing back to the twins. Realizing that this was becoming more complicated than he'd originally planned, Blurr decided to do this the "easy" way. He placed his palms on the glass and moved them as quickly as he could, probably as fast as his top speed. After about a minute the glass shattered away from his hands, leaving a clear space for the twins to fly through.

"Great!" celled Jetstorm. The twins, before their savior could run away, grabbed Blurr by the wrist and pulled him out the window with them. "Oh no this isn't entirelynecessaryIpreferthegroundifyouplease-!" Blurr screamed, but was ignored. He was dragged out the window and dropped when they transformed, only to be picked up again by the pair of jets. He was held surprisingly well between them, but was on the verge of begging to be put down.

"Come now, Blurr, this is faster!" Jetfire insisted.

"NoNoNoNoNoThisisnotfasterIshouldknowbecauseI'mthefastestthinginexistenceandI'vebeatenJetsmuchmuchmuchmuchmuchfasterthanyou!" Blurr screeched, uncomfortably exposed at such heights.

Before they could get very far something started shooting at them. The twins dodged the attacks the best they could while keeping hold of Blurr. Blurr tried to keep himself quiet but failed to do so as he continually screamed "Thiswasabadideathiswasabadideathiswasabadidea" over and over and over again.

Eventually the twins managed to get out of the line of fire and sneak behind a few tall buildings where they entered the tunnel system and found their way back to Omega Supreme's hanger.

"Blurr!" Arcee called as soon as he arrived "Where have you been!? We've been trying to comm you for-" she stopped short at the sight of the twins "You got the twins," she started, suddenly noticing the trio's ruffed up state, the twins more so than Blurr. "Good job." She said, not entirely sure what to do in this situation.

"We're not free yet," Blur huffed, still recovering from his earlier freak out "There were cons—on our back, only a few miles away—we escaped behind a building." He was exhausted beyond all reason. Blurr was surprised he was able to continue moving in this state. He could feel the pain of the sparklings pulls, but chose to ignore it. He couldn't deal with them right now, he needed to help get his team out of there. It looked, however, as though the sparklings were not willing to wait.

Blurr's vision went spotty and blurred, and he found himself quickly getting closer to the ground. Blurr collapsed at Arcee's feet, taking her by surprise. Before she could do anything Red Alert rushed over and flipped him onto his back. She called for Bumblebee to help her get him into Omega Supreme. Bee complied without question. He stuffed Lightwave into the sling with her sibling before helping the medic to carry the downed speedster to the lift and into Omega Supreme.

When that had been taken care of Arcee joined them along with the rest of the group "Ratchet." She called "Have you got it—uh-him—working yet?"

"I believe so," the doctor sort of drawled out as if unsure of himself "Everything is operational, the spark is in full bloom, but the controls are all locked up, we can't do anything."

"Well—fix it." Demanded Arcee, having nothing better to say.

Ratchet half scowled "I would fix it, if I knew what the problem was. He can tell we're Autobots, which is supposed to unlock everything, but he's just not listening."

"Well, do you have to turn his processor back on? We don't have time for this Ratchet."

"Don't rush me, Arcee, I am well aware of what we do and do not have time for!" he looked back at the control panel "I just need something else. There's an element here we're missing and neither me nor Percy can figure it out."

A moment later alarms started booming though the cabin "Intruder alert, intruder alert." Omega Supreme's voice rang through the speaker "Decepticon energy signature detected." Defense mechanisms came out of the walls and plucked the two sparklings from Bumblebee's arms "Hey!" he called, trying to reach for the sparklings, but too short to get anywhere.

"The sparkling!" cried Ratchet "He thinks there are Decepticons in the ship! Omega, listen to me! It's Ratchet, remember? Do you remember me old friend?"

The alarms shut down and everything calmed "Ratchet?" the large ship questioned "Ratchet." He repeated. The old doctor nodded his head "Yes, see, you know me. Those energy signature's you're detecting aren't Decepticons. They're sparklings, they belong to one of us."

"But my sensors are telling me they share the energy of the Decepticons."

"I know what your sensors are telling you, but they're not Decepticons, I promise. One of our colleagues…" Ratchet didn't want to explain the entire situation, so he left it blunt "They're his."

"I trust you." Omega confirmed, letting the children down "But I can't take off with Decepticon energy signature's present on the ship. I'm sorry Ratchet."

After all heads were lowered and everyone was silent, Cliffjumper voiced what they were all thinking "Then leave them." He suggested "And remove the new one's. We don't have time for this!"

"We are not removing those sparklings!" Ratchet roared "Removing them this close to Transfer could kill Blurr." He looked back at the control panel "And we're not leaving the other sparklings behind either. We'll just have to find another way." Ratchet thought on the matter for a moment "Omega," he called, drawing the attention of his friend once again "This program, preventing you from doing this, it's just a thought isn't it? It's just a program, like we have."

"Yes. It is written into my system."

"But it's still a part of your processor."

"I suppose."

"Then, old friend, I suggest you change your mind."

"I can't over ride protocol."

"Yes you can. We built you as a weapon, as a machine of destruction. We programmed you with everything we wanted, we wrote your system. But you're free now. So what do you want?"

Omega fell silent for a moment "I want-" he started hesitantly "I want to—I want to help my fellow Autobots." He said.

"Then help us." Said Ratchet, then leaning away from the control panel. Omega Supreme began working through his code, all the thoughts in his processor, and for once, in a very long time, made a decision of his own.

A moment later all systems unlocked and Omega Supreme was fully functional. Before anyone knew it the hanger doors were open, and Omega Supreme was descending towards the sky, but not without some obstacles. Anti-aircraft guns and other such weapons took their shots at the massive ship, transforming above the city.

As Omega Supreme was bombarded by weapons on both the ground and in the air, then having to make it through a blockade around the planet, Blurr was in the med bay screaming his little spark out as two sparklings released themselves from his spark. The ship twisted and turned, flying uneasily through the attacks, and shaking heavily with every explosion that hit it's chassis.

When Omega finally made it through the blockade and into open space Megatron ordered all ships to return to Cybertron. Eight prisoners wasn't worth it at the moment. They had more things to deal with, such as extensive slave riots taking hold of the entire planet, and escaped prisoners, and destroyed buildings. Escaped slaves were suddenly stealing ships all over the place all though few managed to actually make it off planet.

As Omega Supreme cruised into open space, the coordinates of their destination set, two new lives emerged from the med bay.

Burr laid exhausted on the berth, taking heavy vents as his body recalibrated, trying to heal itself and get back to normal. The two new forms were taken away an put into incubators.

Both Red Alert and Ratchet were relieved to see Omega Supreme still so well equipped. He had a fully working med-bay, as well as a solid energon supply and enough berths to rest an army.

As Blurr rested and the sparklings developed, the Jet twin's injuries were tended to and, for once in a very long time, everyone got their time to sit back, and relax. Of course they were still on edge for a while, but after a few hours everyone decided they needed a rest. Everyone retired to a room and stayed there for a while.

Everyone had a few things to think about. Omega informed them that it would be a few days until his space bridge would be able to function, so they had a lot of time to themselves.

Ratchet and Optimus spent a majority of their time in the control room. Cliffjumper kept mostly to himself in his room while Arcee, Bumblebee, the twins and Perceptor spent most of their time in the med bay, either as patients or visitors.

Blurr remained in stasis for an entire day until he awoke and demanded to see his sparklings. Before the new arrivals were brought out Blurr fed his first set of twins. It almost felt good to have both back on the nozzle. It was a feeling of great relief, as if he finally was able to realize that both were alive and well.

He was held off from the other two until the energon IV attached to him started to take more effect. He was severely under nourished so it was unsafe for him to be feeding them in this condition. Red Alert didn't even want him to be feeding the first set but Blurr wouldn't let up on that.

After only a few hours the second set of twins was finally handed over to their Carrier, and given their first meal, one at a time. This happened to be the point in the day in which Bumblebee often came for a visit.

As the yellow bot sat beside his colleague, he couldn't help but find the events unfolding before him strange. He'd never seen anyone nozzle feed a sparkling before, and couldn't decide whether or not he should be uncomfortable or if it was strange, or normal or what. He did feel slightly uncomfortable but chose not to voice it.

"I can over myself up if this makes you uncomfortable." Blurr offered, seeing his friend shift in his seat and often overt his eyes. Bee was taken by surprise "Oh! Uh, n-no need. I've just never seen anything like it—uh—that's all. I didn't even know you could do that without opening your plate."

Blurr pulled the blanket off himself and draped it over the feeding sparkling, stuffing it behind his shoulder so that it would stay put and he'd be completely covered.

"I didn't either," said Blurr after a moment, keeping his eye on the sparkling under the blanket.

"How has escape felt so far?" asked the former speedster "Feel free yet?"

Bee shifted slightly "Yeah, I guess. Free enough. It just…it feels a little weird, without—you know"

"Without Jazz?"

"—yeah…without Jazz."

Neither said anything for a while. Bee searched desperately for a different subject "So, uh, d-do they have names?"

"Not yet." Blurr finally looked to his colleague "Do you want to help name them? They'll need designations soon or we'll be referring to them and Decepticon baby three and four and eventually the names will stick."

Bee slightly laughed at the joke "You could name them after their colors."

"I don't think teal and periwinkle are very creative names, do you?"

"No…I guess you're right." As Bee thought of names he examined the little creatures. The one he could see sat on Blurr's lap. She was a dark teal color with an aerodynamic head piece that matched her Carrier's, and tiny claws that matched her Sire. The other child, trapped feeding under the blanket, was a mech, periwinkle, with no real distinguishable feature's accept red eyes and light purple detailing. He resembled both creators, but not overly so. Blurr was just lucky they all came out with two eyes.

"I'd go with Bluewave." Bee suggested after a moment "For the mech, because, you know, he's Blue, and he's-" Bee stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say.

"Shockwave's." Blurr concluded, never taking his eye off the sparkling "I understand. I actually like that name. Blue wave it is." After a few second of staring Blurr spoke again, his vice so quiet Bee barely caught it "I was thinking of naming one after Jazz."

Bee was almost surprised. Before he could comment Blurr continued "Without Jazz they and I wouldn't really be here right now I don't think." He said, going in to nuzzle his little creation, and switching out for the other one to be fed.

Bee smiled lightly "I think that would be great" he agreed lightly.

Blurr smiled, flicking a bit of dust from his sparkling's helm "Jazz then." He proclaimed, a light bit of smile perking his lip. A moment later Bumblebee stood "I have some things to take care of in the control room. I'll—see you tomorrow I guess."

Blurr simply nodded, not making any protest to his friend's choice to leave. A moment later Blurr was alone again, as he usually was. He ended up taking care of his sparklings on his own for most of the day. It didn't feel like anything new. The only difference was that there were four now and nobody would come in and interface with him deep into the night.

When Blurr hopped into this plan he'd hoped to move into a better life . He hoped to find himself in a place where there was a bit more support, where someone could assist him, help keep him sane. He hoped to end up somewhere, someday, in a place where people trusted him.

But as Blurr sat in the med-bay, alone, feeding the little sparklings and feeling the remnants of his past "mate's" spark swirling around in his chest, he couldn't help but feel that what he'd hoped for was just a dream.

The feeling of Shockwave in his spark reminded Blurr of the things Shockwave had given him before they parted forever. He pulled out the data note pad and small item left for him. He read the note and looked at the object for a moment before getting out of bed and placing both on a table across the room. He then returned to bed where all four sparklings had taken up the space. A couple began to stir in their slumber, whining and wanting to be held. Blurr calmly shushed them and picked them up. He shifted the babies enough so he could lay down, then positioned everyone accordingly so that all patrons of the berth were comfortable and safe. The two older ones snuggled beside or atop their Carrier's chest while the younger one's settled for resting their tiny heads and paws on his stomach, just as comfortable and just as warm, but not as close to Carrier's face or the nozzles, so it was less prime property.

Blurr and the sparklings fell asleep that way. Blurr couldn't say he minded at all. Every sparkling was safe and content, and so was Carrier. All he had to do now was forget where they'd come from in the first place.

The next morning, long before Blurr awoke, the two doctors found themselves staring at the Carrier and his offspring from the doorway "You know, for Decepticon babies, they are pretty cute." Red Alert pointed out. Ratchet "hmphed" heading deeper into the room "I've seen cuter." He grumbled, then spotting something on the table beside the door. It was a device he recognized but had not seen in a very long time. "That yours?" he asked, pointing to the little thing. Red Alert picked up the small square device while Ratchet picked up the data notepad beside it and read it allowed "Blurr, what we created will remain, but the bond will not. Use this if you wish, but it's your choice, signed, Shockwave."

"Shockwave?" Red Alert questioned "What is it?" she asked, before the older doctor plucked the device from her fingers "It's a bond breaker." He started "To put it simply. You attach it to the spark chamber and it extracts the remnant of your mate's spark. The last time I saw one it was experimental. I assume Shockwave perfected it." He looked to Blurr "He gave it to Blurr so he could use it. With the use of this device they wouldn't be bonded any more. It would take all remnants of Shockwave's spark out of Blurr's, severing the bond permanently. They wouldn't even be able to put it back together."

Red Alert took the small black box and examined it again "He must have had this for hours, days." She started, placing it back on the table "Why didn't he use it?"

Ratchet took a good look at the slumbering bot across the room. He was covered in little creatures who shared both his and Shockwave's spark.

"I don't think he wanted to." Said Ratchet, mostly to himself. He turned back to Red Alert.

"Well," she started "what should we do with it?"

This didn't take much thought "Leave it." Ratchet instructed, making his way back to the door "Give the kid some options. Who knows, maybe he'll change his mind."

Red Alert took one last glance at the Carrier before exiting. It was quick, but in that instance, in that one moment, she felt as though she could see everything "I doubt that will happen." She said to herself, before following Ratchet down the hall. As she jogged to catch up to her superior she couldn't help but give Blurr some hope. She hoped he would be able to take care of the sparklings, and she hoped he wouldn't suffer too much from the scars that covered his body and mind. She hoped he would have some help and not have to raise and take care of four sparklings alone.

That's what she hoped.

But for now she was leaving Blur alone. Everyone left the small broken family alone to be with themselves. They left Blurr with four tiny burdens and enough energon to survive.

Just Blurr and four little sparklings, alone,

Like Always.

Please Read.

Well this story has met it's end, or has it? I have considered writing a shorter follow up story in which Blurr has to raise four sparklings on his own after the war begins again. There would be four or five chapters where the sparklings are different ages. Shockwave is going to be a big part in that story too but definitely not like he was in this one. In the new one it's because the sparklings want to know where they came from and they get the opportunity but Blurr doesn't want them to meet Shockwave. I will only write it if you want to see it.

Other than that, I bid you a due (unless you're reading Hateful Fate, or Right Down to It in that case, see you there.)