Cybertron: One solar cycle before the Great Exodus: Iacon city.

"Wakey Wakey" came a sinister Vehicon coo. The two cons chuckled as they held him tight. Blue optics flickered open. His Spark jolted as he was being hauled into a huge dark room. His eyes widened weakly at the sight of Airachnid.

"Word of advice? Get comfortable...you're going to be here awhile" she seductively hissed as she slowly slashed across Arcee's cheek. He tried to struggle free from the Vehicon's hold of his arms, but he was too weak.

"You know, for an Autobot, you're resilience is quite impressive" Airachnid slowly strutted around the restrained Arcee.

"In fact, I'm guessing that no matter what I do to you, you'll never crack" Airachnid clenched a fist. "Am I right?" She cooed evilly. Arcee lifted her head, gritting her teeth and glaring with intent at her, dreaming of ripping her demented head off.

"That's what I thought" Airachnid spat. The Vehicons dragged him in, his shins and feet scraping the metal grated floor.

"Tailgate?" Arcee trembled, from her arms raised position. Airachnid turned and smirked at him. The Vehicon's held him tight as they shackled him up. He groaned weakly, it was all he could muster. The amount of pain they'd caused him, the Energon he'd lost. The electrical beams secured his arms up above his lowered head.

"What have you done to him?" Arcee snarled viciously.

"Not much..." Airachnid shrugged from the shadows as she stepped forward into the light, pointing at Arcee. "...Yet"

"Just tell me what I want to know, or...well, you're a smart bot. I think you can imagine what happens to Tailgate next" She smirked evilly, the light trickling down her face.

"I don't know the attack coordinates!" Arcee pleaded. Airachnid had enough, gritting her teeth and turning towards Tailgate. He slowly opened his weak eyes.

"I swear upon the Allspark it's the truth!" Arcee struggled, raising her web bound legs.

"We shall see" Airachnid chuckled in a husky voice. Arcee simply struggled harder and faster, running out of time. She could almost see Tailgates time draining away the nearer Airachnid got.

"No!" Arcee cried, Airachnid raising a sharp spider limb. "Please!" Arcee tearfully trembled. Airachnid hissed, her fangs flaring. Tailgate simply held his head low, trying to cover his throat with his chin. He was too weak to do anything else. He peered up, his flickering blue optics locking with Arcee's despair filled helpless ones.

"Arcee..." He mustered as Airachnid raised the leg. "...I...love you" He smiled as he closed his eyes tight, a tremble on his lip. Because of the situation, the stress and scared for his last moments...Without thinking or meaning it, Arcee screamed out "I love you too!"

Airachnid swung the leg down, Energon staining the wall and Tailgate dropping to the floor with a thud.

"TAILGATE!" Arcee cried out as loud as she could, Energon tears staining her cheeks. He writhed in the dark unseen, shadows hiding the flood of Energon seeping from his slit throat. He gagged and spluttered on his own Energon, feet kicking and scraping the floor. His hands grasped his throat as blue liquid covered them. His vision turned blurry.

Airachnid approached Arcee, a sharp spider limb nearing her face. Her eyes were fixed on one spot, her lip trembling heavily. She sniffed and tears dripped down her face.

"Aww, I didn't realize it was love. How-"

Suddenly a wall exploded, concrete and metal, filling the room in a cluster of steel confetti. Light filled the dark room. Airachnid turned, furious at the interruption. She raised her limbs, but immediately turned, fleeing.

Suddenly, Bumblebee slid in, rising to his feet and blasting blue energy rounds at the two Vehicons, dropping them both instantly. Tailgate lay in the dark, smiling as he tried to close the gaping wound to his throat. He coughed and choked as he knew he'd been saved, he just had to hang on a little longer. Arcee said she loved him that could keep him going.

Soon Cliffjumper ran in, jogging past Tailgate and straight to Arcee. He deactivated the shackled and helped her up as she dropped. Bumblebee also ran by Tailgate. He couldn't shout for help, there was too much Energon in his mouth.

"I couldn't save him" She cried as they walked by Tailgate, not even looking down. He reached a hand out, tears rolling down his pale polymer cheeks.

"I couldn't save my partner!" She bellowed as they stepped out of the huge blast hole in the wall.

...

Tailgate was devastated. He'd been left to die. Silence filled the room and only his choking could be hurt. He tightly closed his weeping optics, accepting death as he let go of his leaking throat. He embraced the silence, and lay ready to die.

Suddenly feminine footsteps sounded. He opened his dying optics to see an Orange and Black Arcee bend down next to him. She ran a hand up his torso, tracing his neck. His vision was growing darker and narrower, like a closing hallway. Her orange eyes gleamed at him and she pressed a finger tip on the wound. Soon a singing heat burned and he gasped, Energon spitting down his face. He saw an amber glow as her finger slowly ran along the slit. Smoke rose up into the air, trailing her finger.

She was soldering, welding it shut somehow. Finally she raised her finger and the white hot tip cooled, turning back to dark silver. She got up, walking over to the pile of ripped webbing in the center of the room. He spat the Energon from his mouth, groaning in pain. There wasn't any more dropping and spraying from his throat as he let go. His mouth wasn't filling up with Energon. She saved him. He couldn't speak, his vocal processors were damaged.

He just lay weakly, watching her from the shadows. She was in the light, bent down looking over the webbing. She rubbed her fingers on the floor, rubbing them together, looking over some sort of residue.

"Hmm...tears" She mumbled. "Obviously restrained, Arcee was definitely here"

"Cee..." Tailgate croaked with only a faint vocalization. She peered at him, orange eyes gleaming.

"What did you say? Cee? Arcee...so she was here" She rubbed chin with a villainous smirk.

"Where'd she go?" she hissed. Suddenly a group of Autobot's ran in through the hole in the wall. Weapons aimed at her. She extended her hands out, all her fingers glowing white hot. She swung at them, cutting one of the bots clean in half. Melted glowing metal coated the slash marks. A huge fiery grin emerged on her face and she inhaled through it, arching her back, before exhaling and breathing a cloud of fire over them. One bot slid aside, capping her knee. She dropped with a cry and he hit her in the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking her processors out cold.

"Primus, what the hell is that? It just killed Swipe!" The bot called to the other three.

"Sentinel Prime sir, we have apprehended Project Flamewar, I repeat, Project Flamewar has been apprehended. Transporting her to Iacon Asylum immediately" The Autobot commander nodded as he held his finger to his ear. Tailgate laid in the dark, watching before exhaustion caused him to pass out unconscious.

One of the soldiers heard a clang in the shadows. He raised his rifle and walked over. He saw Tailgate.

"Sir, we got a wounded bot here!" He called. Two more Bots ran over, picking up Tailgate.

"Get him to a medical camp now!"

...

Tailgate awoke to a Feminine polymer face smiling at him.

"Gah!" He shouted as his vision adjusted. He sat upon the berth. Around him were hundreds of other berths, housing wounded, dying Autobots.

"Easy! You got injured badly" The medical officer smiled. Tailgate groaned as he rubbed his head.

"What happened?" His croaky, deep raspy voice said.

"My voice" he gasped.

"A side effect of the damage. Vocal processor will only compute to half the optimal level and we cannot replace it this late into the war" She sighed. He nodded.

"No, no it's fine. Look, I need to find Arcee, do you know her?" He tried to get up, weak on his feet. The medical officer caught him.

"Thanks" He smiled as she helped him upright.

"No, not personally, but I have heard of her. She's been serving at Iacon highway all this solar cycle"

"Wait, I've been unconscious for a whole solar cycle?!" He roared, clutching his throat, feeling the bump of the rough weld line.

"Easy on the raised voice, it will damage the wound. Let it heal. And yes, you have been clinically processor dead for a year. We kept you on life support and stabilized the Energon levels in your system"

"Thanks...for saving me" Tailgate muttered, rubbing his throat.

"you are welcome" she smiled.

"You're welcome, but...I wasn't talking about you" He said, walking way, still thinking about that bot that saved him.

Project Flamewar?

"Iacon highway?" Tailgate huffed as he barged by medical staff and injured Autobots. He shook off his thoughts and stepped out from the camp, the sunlight gleaming over the ruins of Iacon, painting bars of light on his metal white and blue skin.

"Don't worry Cee, your partner's back" He smiled, transforming in pain and hovering off towards the city highway at pace.

...

Eventually, after dodging Decepticon units for hours, he reached the outline of the huge ruined highway. He swooped into an alleyway, transforming. Tailgate shimmied along the wall and to the other side.

His eyes widened as he saw what stood at the other end of the ally, on the curb of the highway: The slender, curvy form of Arcee. She was a vision in blue, pink and black, gorgeous. And she told him she loved him. Tailgate smiled heavily and began walking down the shadowed alleyway.

"Yes, roger that Optimus, we're heading that way now" She said boldly into her communicator. He was mere feet from her now.

He rolled his shoulders and stepped out of the shadow, the words "Hey Cee" on the verge of his lips.

"Yeah, yeah we're moving! Coming Partner?" She called with a smile. Tailgate stopped himself, stepping back slightly, the shadows reclaiming him. Cliffjumper emerged beside her.

"Yeah, right behind you Partner" He smiled as they both transformed and raced off. Tailgate stood awe shocked in the shadows. He closed his eyes, his fists tightening. Soon the sunlight vanished and a grey rumbling overcame the sky. Patters of oil like rain fell, picking up pace. Soon he was caught in a heavy torrent of maelstrom Cybertronian weather.

It was then that the weight of the war, his shattered heart and ruined life caused his fragile mind to snap like an old dry bone.

"She replaced me...She replaced me...SHE...REPLACED...ME!" He roared, cracking and damaging his vocal processor further, making his voice darker and raspier.

"I know someone who still cares if I live... trip to Iacon Asylum I think" He snarled, turning and walking out into the heavy continued his pace before transforming and racing off towards the huge structure.