“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."

~Ambrose Redmoon

>>•<<

The three kids laid dejectedly on the berths that were ten times too big for them, the energon cuffs humming in the silence. Miko and Rafael had several drying tear streaks on their faces, Jack trying hard to keep it together. It was hard, given that Arcee had been- is -his best friend and partner, and he didn't know how badly she had been injured.

It had been a trap since square one. The scanners had picked up energon after a recent earthquake in California, near the San Andreas Fault, so the Autobots had thought nothing of it when they Groundbridged out to take a look. Earth was constantly shifting and moving, so occasionally energon deposits would show up after an earth-altering event such as an earthquake. Of course, Miko had snuck along and the boys had followed. Once there, Arcee had been charged with watching the kids as they came upon a giant energon deposit underground. They thought that the mine was new, when in reality the Decepticons had already found and cleared most of the place. What was left was just enough to set the trap.

Starscream had baited them first, appearing before them and begging to be freed from Megatron. When the Autobots refused and Optimus prepared to shoot him Vehicons jumped out of their hiding places and began attacking. Arcee had backed the kids into a corner and stood over them as protection, holding her ground against the drones. That's when Knock Out came, distracting her but in the end getting beat pretty badly by the femme. Only then did Megatron lose his patience and arrived, flinging the two-wheeler to the side like a piece of paper and grabbing all three kids in one swipe, transforming and flying out of the mine while Starscream detonated the next phase of their plan, both he and Knock Out escaping with the energon explosion right on their tailpipes.

How close Arcee was to the explosion, Jack didn't know. All he had heard was the muffled blast and Megatron laughing at the Autobot's misfortune.

And now, he, Miko, and Rafael were stuck on the Decepticon warship, at the mercy of its owners. Knock Out had stopped taunting them a while back and instead had busied himself at the computer, his digits making soft tapping sounds as he worked.

The door swooshed open to reveal a one-eyed, purple Decepticon with one good arm and a canon strapped to the other, the powercord swaying from side to side as the giant slowly strides through the door. His one eye focused on the children, monotonous male voice making Jack's spine tingle with fear.

"These are the humans, I presume?"

Knock Out let out a vent. "Of course. Do you know of any other humans aboard this ship? It's not like we have our own pets running around here."

"I was asking a logical question." Shockwave replied, ignoring the medic's sarcasm and moved his helm slightly so he could focus his gaze on Miko, who promptly stuck her tongue out at him. He didn't seem fazed by that either, his attention going to Rafael next. The smallest of three, the child shook the hardest and showed more prominent signs of distress.

"Am I done here?" Knock Out asks with annoyance in his voice. "Or do you need me to play gopher and fetch you something?"

Shockwave didn't answer him for a time, taking his gaze off of the humans and tapping something into the computers, looking at something before turning back to Knock Out.

"Are these files updated?"

"As updated as they can be." Knock Out looked smug. "I made sure to note every detail I could on them. If you need more information I'm sure Soundwave would be more than happy to hack into their government's database for you."

"I will take note of that." Shockwave says dismissively. Despite having no emotion processors, he still made it clear Knock Out was unwanted. "I will compile a list of supplies I need in order to complete the experiment. I will also be creating blueprints that should be followed precisely."

Knock Out rolls his optics. "Always the perfectionist. I'll be around if you ever need anything." He didn't look at the kids as he walked out of the laboratory, and Jack was tempted to call the red mech back. Knock Out may scare him, but Shockwave gave him the absolute heebie-jeebies.

The scientist was busying himself with the humans' files, each with a cropped photograph of them and a (heavily biased) blurb about their personalities and background. Annoyed at Knock Out's ignorance, Shockwave quickly runs through each profile, and notes with dissatisfaction that their heights and weights had not been recorded, nor any health conditions he had to be aware of.

Constructing scenarios in his processor, he debated questioning the humans or simply doing a scan. Scans would be able to give him what he wanted, but there was also the variable of how the humans would react to it. Would the scan harm them? Would it even pick up on their organic signatures? Their squirming would most certainly disrupt the process, so doing it while they were in recharge would be most logical.

But even then, he would not be able to get a firm grasp on their personalities, their likes and interests. Shockwave had no desire to socialize or befriend the humans, but it was essential he get such crucial details. It would make them more predictable and controllable. He hated the aspect of naturalistic observation, however.

"What are you going to do to us?" His audio receptors picked up the question clearly, but he did not feel obligated to answer. His silence only spurred the oldest human, who became more demanding. "What is this experiment you keep talking about? What do you plan to do?!?"

"Until I am ready to begin the procedure, you have no need to know." Shockwave answers, not even turning to look at the child. He was too busy organizing information and creating a list (albeit very vague) of raw materials he would need for the experiment.

"Who said you were gonna do anything to us?" It was the female this time that spoke up. Miko Nakadai, of Japanese decent. Whether that was her direct origin or not was hard to tell. She did, however, have a different accent than Jack. As he yet again ignored her question, he could hear her grunts as she began to fight her restraints. "If you even try to lay a finger on me, I'll rip it off!"

Shockwave could only disbelieve the human's insistence that she could do such a feat. It was highly illogical, given he could kill her with a single flick of his digit.

::Shockwave,:: Megatron's voice crackled through his comlink, the gruff voice of his master demanding his full attention. ::I'm sorry to bother you during this time, but there is something that requires your immediate attention.::

::I understand, lord Megatron.:: Shockwave could not deny the overlord of any request, and so he simply pushed aside any negative thoughts he may have about the matter and simply focused on the task Megatron wanted. ::What of the humans? Should there be a monitor for them?::

::This shouldn't take too much of your time.:: Megatron reasons. ::Leave them be, for now. They're chances of escaping are minimal, if there is any chance.::

::Your reasoning is logical. I will be there immediately.:: Shockwave closes down the ccomputers and begins to walk out, Jack narrowing his eyes at the Cybertronian.

"Where are you going?"

"Lord Megatron requires my assistance." Shockwave saw no harm in telling the human. But he had to keep the conversation minimal. "I will return shortly." With that curt reply, he exits the room.

Jack counted to ten silently while Miko slouched in her restraints, head hitting the table with a thunk.

"I really wish Bulk was here." She sighs, eyes teary. "And Jackie, Arcee, Bee, Smokescreen, even Ratchet. I wish they were here, getting us out."

"We can't lose faith." Rafael says supportively, turning his head to smile at Miko. He was afraid, but he told himself he had to be tough for them, even though he was a little kid. "The Autobots are probably tracking us down right now."

Jack gave a small grunt as he wiggled his left wrist, gritting his teeth as he began to pull his hand through. What he was about to do would be very painful, but if he could one hand free the other could be spared. Meanwhile, Miko and Rafael continued to talk, oblivious to his actions.

Twenty seconds later a scream jolted both of the younger humans from their conversation, Miko gasping in horror as she saw what Jack had done.

Panting and letting pained tears pour out of his eyes, Jack painstakingly gripped his right hand's restraint with his four good fingers and pulled, his thumb seeming to burn as pain radiated through it, the joint twisted at a backwards angle. He could feel how broken it was, the metacarpal was most definitely snapped in half. But that didn't stop him from wriggling his right hand out.

"Jack! What are you doing?" Miko hisses.

"I'm getting us out of here." He replies, voice choking in pain. Using both hands he wrested his legs free and stood up, dizzy from his destroyed thumb but making a point to not look at it. It would only make things worse.

Rafael whimpers, his face drained of color and eyes scrunched up in agony.

Jack takes a few steps back, taking a breath and remembering his middle school track days. He did long jump before, surely he could do it again . . .

Miko watched in horror as he began to run, shoes pounding against the metal table as he picked up speed, both of his arms pumping despite the one having a limp thumb. Taking a leap, Jack reaches for the edge of the table.

"No!" Miko screams as he falls out of her sight, the Japanese girl thrashing hysterically. "Jack! Come on man, don't be dead!"

Grunts answered her, Jack's head coming into view as he hauled himself up and onto her table. "I'm not dead, Miko." He mutters, stumbling over to her. His eyes were rimmed with red from his tears, pain radiating up his arm but he continued on. They needed him. "I'll be there in a minute, Raf!"

The small boy whimpered again and nodded, his nose scrunching up as he readjusted his glasses without the use of his hands. He was on high alert for Shockwave or some other Decepticon to walk through the door and catch them in the act.

Miko slides her hands and feet out of the bonds with painstaking slowness, her eyes always darting to Jack's disfigured thumb. She felt like she was going to throw up, but of it was from fear or the appendage she didn't know.

Her boots made it difficult to bet her feet out, and in the end they wasted precious seconds getting the shoes untied and slipping her feet out, black socks wiggling with effort. Another thirty seconds was lost to her insistence she put her shoes back on, and for Jack to not make another attempt to leap.

"Stay here, I'll get Raf." She says, her back ponytail flipping wildly as she ran, her pace amazingly fast. Jack knew she was rather acrobatic, but her leap made it seem like she had been practicing for somehing like this her entire life. She even made it completely to the other side!

Kneeling next to Raf, she uses her two good hands to heave the energon bonds up. "Come on, come on!" She hisses.

Raf's small hands and feet weren't a problem, and soon all three of the kids were grinning at one another, unable to believe their success.

Cla-click. Cla-click. Cla-click.

"Scrap." Jack growls, motioning at the two younger kids. "Get down! I'll distract Shockwave and you two make a run for the door!"

"No way." Miko protests. "I'll distract him."

"Miko!" Jack frantically looks at Raf, who gets the message and begins dragging Miko toward an energon cable attached to the back of the metal table. It was obviously used to power the energon cuffs. "Go!"

The two younger kids had just ducked out of sight when the door opened to reveal the one-eyed scientist. Surprise made him stop as he realized the energon cuffs were empty and the oldest human, Jack, stood alone on the middle table. His blue eyes were narrowed, and one hand was clenched in a fist. Shockwave's scanners picked up a heightened level of testosterone and an inflammatory response taming place in the human's left hand.

"Where are the other humans?" He asks, raising his voice to sound angry, even intimidating. He may not be able to feel such emotions, but he could indeed mimic them.

"They're gone." Jack seethes. "I wasn't going to let you hurt them!"

Miko and Raf quickly ducked into a new hiding place as Shockwave assessed the situation before him, taking slow steps toward Jack. Both held their breathes as Miko peeked around the corner, jerking back around when she saw Shockwave was facing them, and if they tried to run they would be in his direct line of sight. Even with one eye she figured he would spot them.

"Megatron was correct when he said you demonstrated several traits similar to Orion Pax." Shockwave changes his tone back to it's normal monotonous. A plan began to formulate in his processor, logical pathways opening up to him as he automatically disregards illogical actions. "In some ways that is beneficial. However, in this case it is not." He turns around, his back to Jack, as he scanned the area behind him. He did not spot any organics.

Miko took the chance to drag Rafael from their hiding spot and dart toward the back of the table that had once held Jack down. They were getting closer to the door, but it was a straight, open shot.

Jack's eyes darted down to them for just a second, realizing their predicament. He began to move backwards, taking care to not accidentally step off the edge and fall to his death. Shockwave caught the movement and looked back at Jack, his curiosity spiking. There were two possibilities. Either the human was trying to lead him away from the others or was moving to urge them to run to a new hiding place. Given that his gaze never wavered away from Shockwave, the mech was going with the former plan.

Selfless, and obviously a leader figure. This one would prove to be difficult to subdue. But Megatron had his ways, and the warlord showed a special interest in the oldest boy. Shockwave could see why.

"Hiding your friends from me will do no good." He says, approaching Jack with a watchful gaze. The human took a small step back in fear, and his held his inflammed hand closer to his body, a sign that his "fight or flight" response was kicking in. It was hard to tell which response he would choose to follow. "It is illogical to hide, and it is very illogical to resist me." To punctuate his point, he lashes out with surprising speed and grabs Jack's inflammed hand with surgical precision, the human screaming in pain as Shockwave dragged him closer by the broken appendage. "It would be logical for your friends to reveal themselves now and spare you the pain."

"Don't do it Miko!" Jack yells. "You and Raf stay put!!" More tears sprang to his eyes as Shockwave mercilessly watched him fall to his knees, never releasing his grip on the human.

Miko put a hand over her mouth, eyes watering. Rafael had covered his ears, murmuring somehing to himself in Spanish as Jack cried out.

"I will give your friends one last chance." Shockwave continues. "If they do not think logically in ten Earth seconds, your punishment will be severe."

"What," Jack gasps "are you going to do? Twist my arm behind my back?"

"If separating your wrist from your arm does not work, then yes." Shockwave said it so coldly, Jack's blood went icy. This Decepticon had no remorse, no sympathy. He wouldn't hesitate to maim Jack in the worst way possible.

And he wouldn't hesitate with Miko or Rafael either.

"Both of you don't mo-" Jack's throat became raw as he yelled as loud as he could, the pain Shockwave was inflicting to the point of unbearable- he was about to pass out.

"Stop!" Miko yells, waving her arms. "We're here! Stop!"

Shockwave did as promised and let Jack go, the human crumbling onto the table, trembling and sobbing as he curled into the fetal position. Ignoring the human, he steps toward the two smallest humans. Miko shields Rafael with her body as the giant's shadow loomed over them. Her hazel eyes were filled with fear, and her mouth opened with the same expression, but she didn't back down.

"Your choice was most logical." He extends his hand, palm open for the two humans to step on. Miko reluctantly stepped on first, pulling Rafael behind her until they were in the most stable part of his hand.

"Jack!" Miko leaps from the scientist's hand before he had properly set it down for the humans to disembark, stumbling a little as she hit the table but continuing to run to the shaking boy. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she moves so that she was facing him. "Let me see it." She asks quietly.

Jack heard Rafael running toward him, hating how the two of them saw him like this. But it also surprised him that, instead of leaving him to sob in solitude, Shockwave allowed them to comfort him. How heartless was this Decepticon, truly?

Shifting his arm, he showed Miko the newly ruined hand. Not only was the thumb twisted and broken in a sickening way, his wrist hung loose and useless. He seethed as Miko jostled it, for sure the thing was ripped out of socket if not sprained or broken. Shockwave simply looked on as Miko inspected it, the young female standing up in rage and glaring at him.

"I'm going to rip your last hand off!" She yells. "See how you like it!"

"That statement is most illogical." Shockwave simply stated, his one eye looking down at her with little care. "Be grateful that I have spared him more pain."

"Miko." Rafael grabs her arm. "Jack needs help. He needs a cast."

The Japanese girl looked back at her best friend, his broken form making her angry and anguished at the same time. Looking back at Shockwave, she crosses her arms.

"Are you gonna help him?" Her question was demanding, a trait Shockwave noticed came out of most humans when they were afraid or stressed. They became more urgent about matters.

"Medical procedures are not my area of expertise." Shockwave replies. "Knock Out will be here in approximately three Earth minutes."

>>•<<

Megatron has my child. The leader of Decepticons . . . kidnapped my one and only child.

June Darby sat huddled inside of Ratchet as she played Arcee's words over and over in her head, her heart twisting in agony as she thought of all the horrible things that could be happening to not only Jack but Miko and Rafael as well. And their parents didn't even know what was going on here.

What are we going to tell them? That giant robots took their kids away? That they just went missing?

Her cry of sadness and frustration, we she hadn't meant to utter, snapped her host's attention away from his work and to her.

"Nurse Darby, are you all right? Are you getting enough air?" He asks, his voice much more softened after the news of the kids' fates had been revealed.

"I'm . . . I'm fine." June sniffles, curling up in a corner of his chest compartment, the warmest part. "Never better."

Ratchet picked up on the blatant lie, but didn't press her. He understood how Carriers would get after losing their sparkling; how anyone would get if they lost a loved one. Time was what they needed.

"I apologize for the smoke." He says, as if he hadn't heard the lie or felt her tears when they hit his interior. "It's still too thick for healthy conditions, but Smokescreen and Shovel are working as best they can to fix it."

After rescuing the Autobots, the Vehicon Ratchet had picked up could never do enough for the cause. He helped fix Smokescreen's arm (with a little difficulty nonetheless, but the newly named foot soldier could learn fast), and helpfully supplied Ratchet with the Decepticon plan to ambush them and the coordinates he had last been on the Nemesis. The latter proved useless, however as the Decepticon ship's movements were eratic. Shovel didn't know anything else about the plan for kidnapping the children, however.

Another, more annoying thing about the Vehicon: He worshipped Ratchet like he was Primus himself. The Vehicon would tell anyone new his name and how Ratchet had (though it had initially been a sarcastic retort on the medic's part) given him this wonderful name that he would cherish forever. Optimus' spark was fond of the Vehicon, and he found some amusement in the fact that Ratchet didn't want anything to do with his new "friend."

Ratchet was pulled from his musings by June, who softly replied to his earlier apology.

"It's okay." She takes in a shakey breath. "As long as you don't mind."

He did mind, but if the sounds of her distress was any indicator he wasn't about to let her go wandering without supervision. Sometimes humans would do drastic things from an emotional overload.

"It's not a problem." He lies, forcing his vocalizer to banish any hint that he was omitting the truth. His sudden change in tone got a look from Ultra Magnus, his current patient, but the commander didn't say anything. It wasn't wise to get on your doctor's nerves when he was fixing your spinal cable. The dented and burnt metal made things difficult, but Ratchet was managing. He could always manage.

June simply nodded, focusing on her breathing and trying expel the voices in her head that threatened to drag her into darkness. Her heart ached, but she had to hold on to hope. The kids could be alive, Megatron could be using them as ransom, just like he did the first time.

He would call soon, she just knew it. And when he did, she was going to show him just how powerful a protective, furious humans mother could be.

>>•<<<

Yay, Chapter 2!!! :D Thank you for your support on Chapter 1, it was greatly appreciated! I feel like some characters are a little OOC, and I apologize again for that.

Don't forget, comment and vote! Both are extremely helpful to me!!! :3

♥♥♥

~Fanfic_Fanatic13

Scene: Megatron confronts Arcee with the kids.