A/N: So yeah, this could be considered a bit of Dystopia. Somewhat like "Uncertain Future" which got canceled. All you really need to know is it's a G1 setting where the Autobot-Decepticon war has lead to the Earth being in shambles basically. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone other than Walker, Sadie, Cyrus, and other OCs I may use.

PAIRINGS: OptimusxElita, IronhidexChromia

CHAPTER 1
WALKER, SADIE, AND CYRUS

"Hang on Walker, I'm getting help!"

That was the last thing he heard, an hour ago.

Walker Daniels tried to move, but the pain shot through him like a thousand volts of electricity. At fifteen, he'd already seen his fare share of death, and felt like he was going to die more times than he could count. But right now he was scared beyond words. Stuck in the middle of the deep hole, the wire coiled around him like a net, the electric jolt hitting him any time he moved.

He'd known the way that Decepticons captured human slaves and pets was brutal. But he'd never imagined this. The seering pain, the exhaustion, the inability to move. Frankly, a part of him wished it would kill him just to put him out of his misery.

Unfortunately, he figured, life would not be so kind.

The hum of a truck told him that his friends had not found help. No, they were too late, some Decepticon had found him. Those creeps... They'd haul him off towards a fate worse than death and he knew it. He cried out in pain, trying to squirm again as the electricity shot through him more.

"Don't move!" Came a loud voice, though softer in tone than he'd expected. "It's OK, youngling. I'm gonna get it off of you."

"Please hurry!"

Wait, was that Sadie? Walker squinted. What in the world was going on? Was Sadie begging for help from a Decepticon? Had she finally lost her mind? "It's OK, li'l femme. We're here to help." Came another, sleek sounding voice. "Hound! Is he still breathing?"

"Hard to tell up here. He went silent the last time he tried to move." "Hound" spoke up. "Walker, can you hear me?"

Walker groaned in pain, and shrieked as he tried to move again. "Alright, shhhh. It's alright, youngling. Stop moving, it's going to get worse." The sound of snapping started to fill his ears, he tried to move his green eyes to the side to see what was going on. "Almost there, kiddo. Just relax."

"Don't hurt me... Don't hurt me..." Walker murmured to himself, fear pulsating.

When the final snap sounded out, Walker felt the wires fall. His body shivering slowly as he curled up into a small little ball. His body was heaving, the pain from what he'd just endured almost unabarable. But that was nothing compared to the fear. "Frag, he's alive. But he's hurt, bad. Slagging Decepticons. They're just kids!" Came a shout. "Jazz. Help me get him into your alt mode. We need to take him to Ratchet."

Wait? What was that first part? Walker had barely comprehended what just had been said when two large hands cupped below his body and lifted him. But he'd never understand what'd happened, not yet anyway... As the next thing he knew was the darkness of his eyelids shutting.

"Tell me again, what were two younglings and a sparkling like you doing out in the middle of a trapper field?"

Sadie Shade sat in a chair, looking up at the mech quietly. She'd heard of the Autobots, of course. Back in the days before Earth had become a dark, somewhat desolate wasteland, they had fought for peace. And it would seem, she guess, that in their own way they still were.

Right now, however, she couldn't help but be intimidated.

She knew that Walker would probably slap her upside the head for trusting them. After all, they were of the same species that had done this to their planet. But she had no other choice. Not with him about to become some Decepticons prized trophy. The thought had already made her skin crawl and her blood boil.

So when she'd come across the two Autobots driving by, and seen the symbol on their hoods, she'd taken the chance. After all, she'd heard of them before, and known the symbol from years earlier when her dad had talked about them. So asking them to help had been smart at the time.

Until they'd dragged them back to their home, and started asking questions.

She shifted quietly, rustling Cyrus in her lap quietly. The two year old hadn't done much since they'd taken Walker back. And she was pretty sure he was too young to really comprehend what was happening with his older companions. No, of course the Autobots wouldn't interrogate a toddler. But a ten year old? Well, at least she could give a straight explanation.

But what did she say?

She looked between the mechs asking the questions. One, she knew as the green, tall mech with the one shoulder cannon, and a big build named Hound. While the other was a taller, sleeker white mech with some back and a pair of doorwings he'd called Prowl. Both of them looked at her, their optics closely focused on her as if waiting for a response she wasn't sure she had.

Would they try to split them up if she told them they were orphans? Well, she guessed sending them to social services would be hard. Especially with the collapse of society and all. But she'd heard other stories that there were still "homes" for orphans in the remains of human society that just plain sucked. And the thought of that... After everything they'd been through? Well, it just made her sick to her stomach.

"I'm going to make an educated guess. Given you were found without adult supervision." Prowl crossed from the desk inside of his office, one of many on "The Ark". "The three of you are not from Deceptcion territory. You have no brands or collars. So I'd say the three of you were on your own, am I correct?"

Sadie wanted to lie, but also knew she wasn't good at it. "NO! No, we're not on our own. We have my parents with us..."

"And you didn't think to get them when Walker was hurt?" Prowl asked, leaning forward, speculatively. "Or leave the little one with them when you went to get help, at the very least."

Sadie was silent, she didn't know how to reply to that one. So, pushing her black hair away from her face, she sighed. "Well, I mean... We were with my parents, for a while. Cyrus and I..." She commented.

"Is he your brother?" Hound asked softly.

"My parents found him in Connecticut. They wouldn't leave him." She shifted Cyrus on her lap. "And my parents... I mean, I could tell you where they are..."

"Let's stop beating around the bush, youngling. The three of you are alone."

Hound shot Prowl a dark look. Like that was far from the nicest way to put things. This was obviously a strange situation, but none-the-less, these were children. "Even if we were, it doesn't matter. We're not going anywhere." Sadie spoke up, defiantly. "You can't break us up even if you wanted to. Social services is gone..."

"Stay together?" She gently shushed Cyrus.

Hound made sure he was the one to speak up, rather than Prowl on that matter. "Miss... We aren't saying we want to split anyone up. We're just trying to understand what you were doing out there." He explained. "Kids like that should be supervised for that reason, your friend Walker could have died or been captured."

"We're doing just fine. And Walker doesn't take help from anybody. He hardly takes help from me, and he's only five years older than me."

"So you admit you're alone." Prowl replied. "That explains it, most adults know-."

"We knew where we were, OK? We'd just come from the outskirts of a Decepticon-ruled city! We were scavenging for food, happy now?" Sadie asked, now getting frustrated.

Hound and Prowl were taken aback by how quickly the girl snapped. Her fear now becoming more evident by the second. "We only asked so we could help. The hostility is unnecessary." Prowl explained, clearly not happy with the attitude. "If you had just been honest with us, we have human fuel..."

"Prowl." Hound held a hand up, surprising his friend. "Hey, did you guys even manage to get any food?"

Sadie was silent, turning her head away a moment. She wanted to lie and say yes, because she didn't like the thought of going to these mechs for anything more than help herself. But at the same time, Cyrus hadn't eaten. And he was just a little boy... A tiny little thing that needed food.

"No... We were almost caught. That's why... That's why we had to run through the fields..." Sadie was silent. "That was a couple of days ago too..."

Hound's face fell, looking to Prowl a moment. Apparently, that was all that Hound, the soft mech that he was, needed to hear. "Come on, Prowl. We got most of the answers we need. Let me go get our friends something to refuel with." As the former enforcer opened his mouth, he put a finger up. "Everything else can wait. You know Prime would agree with me."

Prowl seemed to murmur something like "protocol should always come first". But looking at the two kids, practically dressed in tattered rags, and thinner than they should have been, he vented. "He's right, you have nothing to fear. We've given sanctuary to humans before. If you follow him he can get you warm clothes and "food"." Prowl explained.

"I'm not letting anyone else near Cyrus. He stays with me." Sadie insisted, her voice wavering.

"You're not going to be separated, I promise." Hound replied. "We're not going to let you just go out on your own again. But we won't take you away from each other."

Sadie wasn't sure she exactly believed the mech. But his soft optics told her that he was at least being genuinely kind. And the thought of food, and real clothes... Well, that was too much to resist. She knew Walker wouldn't be happy, but she also knew she couldn't say no.

And so she stood up, taking hold of Cyrus' hand. Hoping that whatever com Prowl appeared to be ready to make was not going to be to the wrong person.

Walker woke up unable to scream.

Where was he? Why was the bottom of him so cold? He cried out as he tried to sit up, pain jolting through him. All he could see between his blonde bangs was metal, cool, hard metal. Where was he? Where were Sadie and Cyrus? He tried to make sense of it all. Had that mech betrayed them at last? Was he in some sort of Decepticon processing center?

"I think I've managed to get him stable." Came a gruff voice from the right side of whatever he was laying on. "You're sure whatever current that fragging trap attached to him has worn off, Wheeljack?"

"I've worked on the tech they used for this. It might be a different organic species, but I'm one-hundred percent positive." Came another voice, this time from the left side. "Slag, Ratchet, he's awake!"

Fear pulsated through Walker's entire body. Trying not to panic as best as he could, but still feeling his heart pounding in his chest. "Please! Please! Do what you want to me! But don't hurt Sadie... Or Cyrus!" He shouted, getting his breath. "Cyrus is barely two!"

A gentle, metal hand seemed to move over his body to calm him. "Whoa, whoa little buddy. You're fine... Your friends are fine." As the robot spoke, he could almost make out some flashing light. "They're getting food and clothing right now... I know I can't prove it, but I promise."

"A lot that promise does me! You're a Decepticon!"

"Far from it, kid. I'm an Autobot." "Wheeljack" explained, his voice soft, and careful. "You're safe... Alright? No one's gonna hurt you. In fact, it's because of us you're functioning."

"But not for long if you keep fighting!" "Ratchet" who now came into full view, spoke up. "Lay still frag it, I'm still not done seeing to your injuries."

Ratchet, as far as he could tell, was a smaller mech. His main coloring was white, but he had red hands, and little crosses on his shoulders. He had the look of an older mech, but one that none-the-less could be a tough customer.

Wheeljack, or whom he assumed was Wheeljack, came into view slower. This mech looked a little stranger. He had a mouth guard over his mouth, and two fins on either side of his face. He, too, was white in coloring, but with some green and red lining along the chest. While he also had two little wing-like appendages on his back.

"Just relax, Walker, right?" He didn't respond, partly because he was mesmerized by the way this Wheeljack's "fins" seemed to glow as he talked. Something he'd never seen before. "You're in good hands here, and with friends. We won't hurt you."

Ratchet looked at the other mech as he ran scans and diagnostics. "If he didn't believe you the first time, I doubt he believes you now." He told Wheeljack, who seemed to frown with his eyes, rather than a mouth. "Unless his lack of reaction means he's calmed down."

"Where are Sadie... Cyrus?"

"I told you, they're OK. They're with one of us getting something to eat." Wheeljack piped up, ignoring Ratchet's advice in favor of keeping the child calm. "C'mon. If we were going to hurt you, we'd have done it already. Just relax."

"I never relax." The boy faintly murmured.

Ratchet simply sighed, already able to tell that this child was a stubborn one. Not that it surprised him, given they'd heard that the girl, Sadie, had given them a bit of trouble too. "Well, you have no choice but to put your trust in us for the moment." Ratchet replied. "When I'm done making sure the trap did no permanent damage I promise to have them brought in. If it means that much to you."

Walker hoped that the mech was at least honest. Even if they were slaves now, and these mechs were lying, at least he could see they were OK. He'd been so sure that Cyrus, too young to be "useful" would be killed... But if they had spared him. "Please don't hurt us... Please." He breathed out quietly.

Wheeljack looked up at the medic quietly, concern in his optics. Then within a moment, he put a hand beside him on the medical berth. "I'll make sure the scans don't do anything to hurt you. Ratchet has to do them, I was just checking on that current in your body." He commented.

"You're not helping." Ratchet replied. "He doesn't trust you either."

Wheeljack gave a smile, again, with his eyes, and spoke up. "Not yet. But maybe after he sees we're not a bunch of lying fraggers, he will." He explained.

This guy was just too overly gleeful, and friendly. Walker didn't like it, he didn't like it at all. The last thing he'd ever do was put his trust in anyone of this species. Even as they seemed to be kind to them, he wouldn't fall for it. No, he refused to fall for it.

He'd had his trust broken enough before the world went to hell. And they would just be one more on a long list of names.

A/N: So that was my "pilot" chapter. I swear, this is my LAST plot bunny to replace one that just didn't work out. And besides, it was going to eat at me until I wrote it anyway. Tell me what you think!