Friend or Foe? I

The Decepticon youngling Echo ran aimlessly through the wreckage of the mutilated buildings of Cybertron that had once stood tall. Finding an opening in the twisted metal he dove for cover, desperate to not be found. Curling into as small as ball as possible, he buried his face in his knees and prayed that Primus would keep him safe.

His prayers were crushed by the sound of two large mechs landing no more then fifteen feet from his hiding place. The small mech's deep red optics widened in fear as he moved deeper into the small hiding place.

"I honestly don't understand why we need to keep the fragger around," an annoyed voice said as its owner kicked a piece of debris out if their way.

"'Warp!" A lighter sounding voice snapped. "He's probably the last youngling left on all of Cybertron. Do you mean to tell me that you don't care for him in the slightest?" Thundercracker asked looking at his Seeker brother. The darker seeker snorted as he scanned the area for Echo's signature.

"The little glitch could drop dead as far as I care," he replied coldly. "Well my scanners aren't picking up anything."

"I should have known better then to send two Seekers to do a real warriors job," a deep and cold voice said from above, closely followed by an even larger mech's landing. It was Nemesis Prime. Both Skywarp and Thundercracker tensed when in the presence of the mech that was easily twice their size.

There was a pause between the three of them as the evil Prime scanned the area with his powerful sensors. A deep, malicious laughter filled the still air of the old battlefield.

"You can't hide from me youngling," Nemesis Prime said in a baritone voice as the metal sheet that had been covering the small mech was ripped off with ease.

The huge mech loomed over Echo and picked him up roughly by the scruff bar between his shoulder blades. Said youngling let out a small squeak as he curled his small frame back into a defensive ball and glared at the evil mech holding him in a rather uncomfortable fashion.

Echo glanced in the direction of the two other Seekers, wishing that it was one of them holding him instead of Nemesis. Sure he wasn't particularly fond of Skywarp, but he really enjoyed being around Thundercracker. The smaller Seeker never failed to make him smile and he actually treated decently, although he did get a bit rough at times.

Nemesis laughed darkly as the youngling squirmed in his hold, letting out a pained click or squeak every once in awhile. The black and dark grey mech narrowed his blood red optics at the youngling in his grasp.

"Oh shut up you whiney sparkling," he growled. Echo glared at the powerful mech angrily and a small blade snapped from his right wrist.

"Echo, don't!" Thundercracker yelled panicking. Before Nemesis could react, the youngling lashed out and the small blade left a clean cut that ran across his nose and ended right below his left optic. The energon in both Skywarp and Thundercracker's lines froze.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" The black mech roared as he threw Echo away from him and into the wreckage of a collapsed building. Thundercracker moved to run to the youngling's aid but his brother stopped him, knowing very well that it would be the end of him if he intervened.

After a rather painful landing, Echo winced and looked down at his abdomen only to see a metal rod protruding from it. Coughing, he felt energon dripping down his chin as several warnings flashed across his field of vision. He tried to get to his feet but Nemesis appeared out of nowhere and kicked him in the face, sending him flying a good fifty feet and cracking his right optic badly.

Landing with another crash, the youngling coughed more energon from his wheezing intakes. Forcing himself to sit up, he leaned against a large sheet of metal and prayed to Primus, convinced that he was going to die any second.

Deep within the bowels of Cybertron, a pair of golden optics onlined for the first time in eons. Blinking them several times, Primus then stretched out his powerful senses to see who, or what, had woken him from his deep stasis.

What he found was a youngling, a Decepticon youngling but a youngling nonetheless, dying by the hands of a member of his own faction. Unacceptable, Primus thought as he reached out to the fading youngling with his powers.

Echo panicked when he felt the powerful presence in his processor. Be calm little one, a calming voice soothed. I heard your cries and I am going to send you to a place where I know that you will be unharmed and cared for. Echo's single working optic widened when he realized just who was talking to him. Primus felt the youngling's surprise and couldn't help but smile slightly.

Just as he was about to speak again, he felt a pain shoot through Echo's chest. The small mech couldn't hang on much longer. Primus curled a small amount of his power around the youngling's frame and eased him into a deep recharge. Not even half a second later, there was a flash of gold light and Echo was gone.

A/N: Edited and reposted because of problems. This story is HEAVILY inspired by Shy-Light from DeviantArt check out her stuff!! http://shy-light.