I have no idea how long I was unconscious, but something tells me it was quite a while.

I was rudely awoken by a kick to the side, which painfully reminded me of when I first arrived at that hellhole they called a medical facility. I kept quiet as I slowly pushed myself to my knees, cautiously examining my surroundings as I did so. It didn't look very different from the last place I was being kept. Then again, like I mentioned before, almost every Decepticon-held building or ship looked like this.

One of the first things I noticed was that I had been cleaned up, the thick layer of caked energon no longer clogging up my fingers when I flexed them. Everything slowly came back to me as I remembered that feeling and I shuddered at the memories. I drew in a slow breath and gathered the courage to look up, settling my gaze on the mech who had woken me up.

It was Starscream.

Of all the pit-bound Decepticons, it just had to be him.

"Rise and shine, Autobot. I hope you've been enjoying your little vacation from the battlefield." Starscream said with a sneer, his wings perked up proudly on his back. Everything about him just screamed egomaniac.

I only rolled my optics, my sarcastic attitude succeeding in pushing away the horrific thoughts that had filled my processor moments ago. It was best that I not dwell on those memories until later. "I've had warmer welcomes from Insecticons..." I huffed, looking Starscream right in the optics. I wasn't afraid of him.

Starscream hissed and his scarlet optics narrowed to pinpricks. It didn't take much to anger him. "Your sarcasm will only result in your untimely death. Alas, I can't grant you that. Lord Megatron wishes for you to be alive." He growled, beginning to pace back and forth in front of me. "If it weren't for him, I would be staining the floor with your energon right now."

"Meaning... if you weren't one of Megatron's little minions, you'd have your way with everything."

That really set him off and I soon realized that I had taken it too far once again. Things happened quicker than I could react and my cheek felt like it was on fire as his claws gouged into the soft metal, leaving four long scratches that immediately welled up with energon. The force of the blow left me stunned and I quickly focused my gaze on the floor.

"Do not refer to me as one of Megatron's minions again!" He snarled in rage, a dangerous gleam to his scarlet optics as he glared at me with pure hatred. "I am his first lieutenant and I will not tolerate a mere prisoner insulting me! Do you understand?!"

I meekly nodded and kept my gaze averted from his. I knew my place now, but that wasn't going to stop me from picking and choosing my battles. Naturally, I was submissive when I didn't have the upper hand.

"Good." Starscream spat, wiping my energon off of his claws in disgust before refocusing on me. "You'd better be on your best behavior from this point forward. Megatron won't be so reserved when it comes to punishment. He will make you hurt in places that you never thought could hurt so badly."

It was almost like he was giving me advice, but I knew he wasn't. He was trying to scare me into submission, which was working at the moment. "Tell me something I don't know..." I muttered, hesitantly lifting one of my hands to brush against the fresh scratches on my face. I hissed in pain as the cool metal of my finger touched the open wound and pulled away, deciding to leave it alone for now. Hopefully it wouldn't get infected...

Starscream growled and lifted his hand like he was going to strike me again, but was interrupted by someone opening the cell door. He put his back to me and looked at the open door, seeing a Vehicon standing there. "What is it?" He hissed in annoyance.

"Lord Megatron wishes for your presence on the Observation Deck. Bring the prisoner." The Vehicon responded with a curt nod, stepping aside so that Starscream could walk out.

I heard Starscream mutter a string of curses under his breath before he grabbed me by my wrists and hauled me up to my pedes. The scratches stung as they were exposed to the air, only causing me more discomfort as I reluctantly followed Starscream out of the cell.

I had no idea what laid ahead.

———

Ack, sorry for not updating in so long! I just lost motivation. I'll try to update more!