I opened my optics to complete darkness. The first sensation that came to my attention was the sharp throbbing in my head that made me grit my dentures and cry out. Along with this was an aching soreness that intensified whenever I made even the slightest movement. My servos were being held together behind me with what felt like electric stasis cuffs, bound so tight that they threatened to cut into my wrist armor.

Where…? The unpleasant pulsing in my head made it hard to form solid thoughts. The only thing I could see was a sickening green color, misting over my vision and causing my intake to lubricate and my stomach to do a flip-flop. “Frag… augh,” I mumbled, rolling onto my back. In that moment, the memories came flooding into my processor, making my energon run cold. Soundwave had taken me to Primus knows where. I was alone. And the others… Knock Out…

Panic was mounting within me. I could feel a wall beside me, and I wriggled around and used it for support until I was in a sitting position. I took deep breaths, trying to keep a calm composure. Panicking in a situation like this wouldn’t serve anything except to make things worse, and I had firsthand experience with being stuck in bad places. I’d been a fool to go off on my own, and now I was separated from the Autobots. For all I knew, they could be under imprisonment as well, maybe even dead, all because of my reckless hatred towards the Decepticons. I had made it that much easier for them to get what they wanted: the demolition of Earth and Cybertron.

Trying to use my comm. link at this point, assuming that it was still functional, was futile. I couldn’t reach it without injuring myself, and I doubted that Soundwave would leave me with any means of communicating with other Autobots. The only option I had was to wait. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my voice cracking. Tilting my head up, I closed my optics and prayed to the AllSpark for the safety of my friends and the planets while enduring the continuous sting of physical pain and emotional indignity that I was sure I deserved.

I’d lost track of time, but it felt like not too much later when one of the walls slid to one side with awful slowness, letting in a faint light. My headache had subsided for the most part, and I squinted as I tried to make out where I was. It appeared to be a hollow cube that I’d been trapped in this whole time, with no discernable openings of any kind. Standing at the entrance were two Vehicons. Their weapons weren’t drawn, and they hadn’t seen that I was conscious. I relaxed my posture and closed my optics while my mind scrambled for ideas of how to get out of here. Chances of escaping had just gone up, even if those chances were still minute.

“She’s the only femme left, besides that glitch Airachnid,” one of the ‘Cons said. I could hear them shuffling towards me.

The other ‘Con jeered. “Yeah, too bad Soundwave’s offlining her for good.” The two stood on either side of me, and the one who had spoken last was groping my chassis armor. “Let’s have some fun with her first.”

Boiling over with indignation, I almost couldn’t keep myself from jerking away and erupting with relentless insults. Digits fumbling at my wrists made me stay frozen in place, and seconds later my servos were freed from the cuffs.

The second ‘Con’s servo trailed down my torso. He chuckled. “She’s pretty hot. I bet the traitor Knock Out fragged her -”

My optics flew open as I slammed my fist into the Vehicon’s face. He stumbled backwards and fell over, limp. I sprang to my pedes as I transformed my energon gun and blasted his buddy into the wall. Before he could retaliate, I pressed the razor edge on my wrist against his neck with force. “Are there any other Autobots in captivity here?” I demanded, holding my gun to his spark.

“N-no, just you!” the ‘Con stuttered, squirming in discomfort. His red visor glowed like optics, but like Soundwave, no Vehicon possessed visible facial features, so for the time being I would have to settle with the coward’s words, hoping it was the truth. I pushed the blade into him even more until he gagged, and then, not wanting to disobey the Autobot code of honor, I shoved him aside in disgust. With both of them dazed, I ran out of the room and started down the confined hallway before me.

Up ahead, the hall made a left and a right turn, and as I neared it I prepared myself to transform. Rounding the bend to the left, I screeched to a halt just in time to avoid crashing into none other than Soundwave, who loomed over me and stood blocking the way. He swiped at me with lightning speed, his hooked digits resembling pincers. I dodged his long-limbed reach by a stroke of luck and jumped back from him. Firing a distraction shot at his shoulder, I was pleased to see the bright bullet make contact with him, and I started in the opposite direction, transforming to my alt. mode and revving my engine as loud as possible as I whizzed down the hall to the right of where I’d came from.

The hall was a one-way path, and in front of me I could see sunlight through a wide exit. Behind me came a rapid, heavy pounding. Someone, or something, was pursuing me, and he or she was getting closer with startling speed. Angling my rearview mirror, I saw the large feline-shaped form of Ravage, who was about the same size as me in my alt. mode. I’d be damned to see the day when some cassette ‘Con of Soundwave’s moved as fast as me, but since I couldn’t activate my guns while in my alt. mode, I transformed, twisted around in mid-air to face the spike-covered creature, and let the bullets fly. Growling, Ravage dodged my attack and pounced at me, latching onto my arm with his obtrusive fangs denting my armor. I wrenched my arm back and forth, using my body weight to crush him against the wall. He was weighing me down, and at all costs I had to keep from falling to the ground with him on top of me. Moving my free arm, I felt for Ravage’s sole optic with the intent of damaging his sight at least somewhat. He didn’t realize what I was trying to do until it had been done, and with a scream the beast released me with satisfying promptness, stumbling around in circles and lashing his tail in fury.

“Don’t mess with me, ‘Con,” I said before turning away and transforming once again. I knew that Soundwave was listening, and on the way with reinforcements no doubt, so I hightailed it out of there without further hesitation. When I made it outside, a strange sense of déjà vu came over me. These vast, empty desert lands… the outstretched highway off in the distance… I couldn’t decide whether I was relieved or scared when I became aware that I was in Nevada.

* * * * *

            It was difficult for me to obey the speed limit signs posted throughout the roads of Jasper. 25, 35, 45… they were all so slow, yet to avoid getting into a mix-up with the human law enforcement, I had to abide by their rules. When I came to a red light, I couldn’t suppress an irritated sigh, which earned the female hologram who appeared to be driving me a look from a boy in a convertible in the lane next to me. After the light turned green in what seemed like ages later, I skidded on the pavement as I took off, leaving the surprised boy behind.

            Please, please be home, Jack, I thought, worry gnawing at me as I pulled into the driveway of a humble two-story building and cut off my engine. There were no vehicles here, but I could see movement within the downstairs window. The curtains parted, and Ms. Darby’s small face came into view. She was staggered to see me, and a second later she had gone, and the garage door to the house creaked and groaned as it opened, allowing me entrance into the cool, well-cleaned room. Of course she recognized me. She had been one of the few humans who knew of the existence of the Transformer race, having figured it out from Jack’s mysterious excursions that he’d had no good explanation for. She liked the Autobots, though, and had sworn to keep our presence among humans a secret, so that was all that mattered.

            A smaller wooden door that led deeper into the house opened, revealing Jack Darby. He reached towards the wall for the garage door button without looking away from me, awed. “Arcee… were you in a fight?”

            I transformed when the garage door had closed all the way, giving my arm a nonchalant glance. I hadn’t even realized how scratched up I was from Ravage, and at the time I didn’t care. Crouching in the limited amount of space, I studied Jack. He was handsome as always, with his shaggy black hair and lean frame. He hadn’t changed much in appearance since we’d last seen each other. I sighed, looking over his shoulder to avoid optic to eye contact. “Yeah. You wouldn’t believe what I got myself into this time.”

            Jack stood his ground, crossing his arms. “Try me.”

            And so I told him what was going on, starting with Shockwave’s plans, and then the Autobot mission to Earth, while being careful to leave out anything that had to do with my relationship to Knock Out. I figured that now wasn’t the time to go in-depth about it. “And then… I came to you,” my voice softened after briefly explaining how I’d been captured. My optics met with his look of astonishment. “My comm. link is fried. I don’t have any way of contacting the others, and now -”

            “I’ll call Raf,” Jack said, fumbling for the cell phone in the pocket of his jeans. “He can fix it. I know he can.”

            “They think I’m dead. I know it.” I raised a servo to cover my face. “My comm. link isn’t working, so my signal won’t show up on the monitors at base,” I said, observing Jack as he dialed in Raf’s number. I couldn’t even imagine how devastated Knock Out must have been, thinking that I was gone. Would he stay with the Autobots if he believed I would never be back? Or would he return to the Decepticons? Certainly it seemed like they were now “the winning team.”

            Jack raised the phone to his ear, watching me. “We have to try something. Hello? Hey, Raf,” he said, his mouth forming a thin line. “Ah… I’ll just give it to you straight out. Arcee’s here, her comm. link’s busted, and we’re wondering if -” he stopped as if he was being interrupted, then nodded. “Great, see you soon.” Hanging up, he smiled at me. “He’s on the way.”

            I returned the smile with uncertainty. The way Jack was reacting to the circumstances with such calm determination, even while knowing that the fate of his home planet was at stake, was amazing. He possessed the admirable qualities of a natural-born leader, and ever since I’d first met him, he was always there to remind me that when there’s a will, there’s a way.