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Chapter Text

"Chia!"

The cry bounced off the rocks, following the small, fine-boned girl as she scrambled around the feet of the rocky monoliths that formed the floor of the old caldera. She clutched something tightly to her chest as she ran, short black hair tousled by her flight. She bounded down the red-soiled slope toward the maze of rocks.

Jed attempted to follow her down the hill and tripped, all of his stocky, muscular height going down in a heap. "Chia!" he bellowed. "Give it back!"

Her only response was a wild whoop of teasing victory as she vanished into the sandstone maze obscured by the crawling autumn mist. The stocky, dark-skinned man clambered back to his feet, his hair and clothing liberally coated with fine red dust. "Chia--!"

No answer.

Jed swore. He had needed that knife, dammit! What was Chia going to do with it, anyway? Trip and fall and hurt herself, the way she was going. He should go after her.

Right. Because getting himself lost in the Stone Maze would be really helpful to everyone involved.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed: "Oi! Elias! I need a hand over here!"

Chia scrambled up a boulder pile, clutching the stolen knife like a favorite toy, an enormous grin plastered all over her face. She hadn't expected that mild-mannered Jed would take her sticky fingers so seriously. Being chased around by the harrassed metalsmith was the most fun she'd had in ages.

Small as she was, she had no problem finding a crevice and wedging herself into it. Flushed with her victory, however petty, she waited and listened for purs uit. 

Heavy, heavy footsteps, too heavy to be human, sounded on the sandstone outside her hiding place and she froze, heart thudding in her skinny chest.

"I don't know, Arcee," Cliffjumper said doubtfully. Small sandstone pebbles crunched beneath his crimson-painted pedes as he and Arcee strolled along their patrol route that wound between the massive boulders.

"Optimus knows what's best for the group," Arcee insisted. Her bright blue optics flick around the sandstone monoliths, some crudely carved with human faces and images scratched into the rock. "We've been here long enough."

Cliffjumper scoffed. "Barely a solar cycle. Look at this place!"

"I am," Arcee replied dryly. Cliffjumper ignored her.

"It's safe, it's out of the way--"

"There is a nest of humans less than ten miles away."

"The better to hide us!" Cliffjumper insisted, undaunted by his companion's dry reticence. "Especially after all the fear-mongering the Decepticons have done, surely they wouldn't think they'd welcome us with open arms?"

Arcee sighed. "Look," she said, turning to her bull-horned partner. "I'm not the one in charge of these things. Optimus is. Don't argue with me about it."

Chia had stuffed her fist into her mouth in an attempt to muffle her quickened breathing.

Cybertronians.

Cybertronians here.

She was dead.

Ramjet would have cursed as he spiralled downward, the wind screaming in his ears like it was laughing at him, but the rushing air tore the words from his denta and sliced at his sensitive faceplate like freezing knives.

Possible moral of the story: Do not challenge Starscream's authority in front of Skyquake. Ever.

He struggled against the wind, watching the cruelly hard earth and dagger-like trees drawing ever closer. If he transformed now, he'd finish just in time to crash on the barely yielding earth, and if he didn't, he'd still be scrap and spare energon sprayed through the forest in the rough outline of a 'con.

Here lies Ramjet, who thought he was clever.

Oh well. Better small chance than no chance. He twisted in midair, metal plates shuffling, folding and rearranging into a C-17 transport plan that was still careening toward a messy and violent death.

His engines screamed as he fought to gain control of his fall.

Cliffjumper opened his intake to continue the argument and caught a familiar smell in the scent-taste receptors in his intake.

Arcee caught his sudden silence. "What is--"

The crimson mech put a digit to his dermata in a human gesture he had adopted. Slowly, casually, he shifted his weight and then plunged his servo into a gap between two rocks.

...And promptly whipped it back out with an unholy screech that grated on Arcee's optics. Along with the servo came a spitting, scratching human who was busily trying to blunt a knife on his metal-plating armor. Arcee's guns were already up, her optics wide.

"Get it off, get it off, get it off!" he pleaded, shaking his arm violently. To her credit, the little human was undaunted, digging her fingers beneath a gap in the plates and hanging on for dear life. Somehow she managed to wedge the knife between the plating as well and Cliffjumper howled.

Arcee reshuffled her guns back into servos and pried the little human off her partner's arm and held her at arm's length.

"What in the name of Megatron's unholy--" Cliffjumper gasped, staring at the screeching human.

"Kill me, kill me, kill me you damned robots! Go ahead, add another human hide to your credit--"

"What is she talking about?" Arcee asked, watching with interest as the little human started to turn blue from her noisemaking.

"I think she thinks we're 'Cons," Cliffjumper said, digging at the knife with a servo woefully wide for the job. "Now what do we do?"

"I don't know, but I bet she'll start purging if she doesn't quiet down. How do you make a human stop screaming?"

Cliffjumper regarded her cautiously. "We aren't going to hurt you, you know," he said. "And the- the screaming really hurts my audials."

"Why should I care about your audials?" the human demanded hoarsely.

"Because neither of is are here to kill you," Arcee said reasonably.

The human shook her head. "Bullshit. Bullshit You're trying to trick me!"

"Why would we lie to you?"

The human looked confused for a moment. "I don't know. Why do robots do anything?"

Cliffjumper sighed. "Look, kid, we're not Decepticons. We're Autobots. We're not gonna hurt you. See?" He tapped the insignia on his helm. "We're the good guys, I swear."

The little human made another desperate bid for freedom, shrieking something moderately improbable concerning Cliffjumper's tailpipe. Arcee looked at her partner and shrugged. Cliffjumper just stared.

"What do we do now?" the red mech asked.

"We're going to take her back to base. What?" she added, catching her partners gaze. "It's not like we have anything else we can do."

Elias brushed her short auburn hair out of her eyes and squinted into the late afternoon sun. They sat beside Dragon's Spit spring, so named for the moderately draconian rock it sprouted from. The noisy spring drowned out sound to the point the paor had to shout to make themselves heard.

"Oh, for God's sakes. She could be hiding anywhere!"

Jed splashed his face in the cold water. "I know," he said grudgingly. " 'M sorry,"

Elias dusted down her tattered military fatigues and got to her feet. She went barefoot; the combat boots that went with the outfit were too precious for ordinary use.

"Brat," she muttered, though without much conviction. "You ought--" she trailed off a strange expression on her sun-browned face.

Jed looked up at her through the water sheeting off his face. "Eli? What is it?"

"It's a plane," she said. "Close."

Jed stared. He didn't hear anything, but why--

Oh. Oh shit.

Ramjet had spotted a human settlement on his now-controlled descent. Maybe the knowledge would serve to appease Starscream's wounded ego. Whatever other flaws the seeker had, he did appreciate sport.

But he needed to land. The rigours of regaining control of his fall had exacerbated his already-injured wing, exposing painfully delicate wiring that the wind took perverted delight in gnawing at. Stupid wind.

Below him, a small lake gleamed, gathering sunlight and then throwing the bedazzling light right back into his alt-mode's optical receptors. Adjusting for brightness, he examined the stones below for a suitable landing place.

"We have to run-- warn the town--" Jed struggled against Elias' hold. The roar of engines was growing closer.

"No," Elias hissed vehemently. "It'll see us!"

"Eli-"

"Jed, don't make me sit on you." It was no idle threat. Elias was six feet of solid muscle and very, very heavy.

"We still need to warn them."

"We will," Elias assured. "As soon as it pass-"

Ramjet excuted a very clumsy landing in the shallow edge of the lake, throwing up plumes of white spray. The roar of jet engines died down and was replaced by the tsche-che-che-tsche sound of transformation. A tall shadow fell over the spring and hiding humans.

Elias swore fluently. "Jed, I take it back. Run back and tell everyone to get underground."

"When?"

"Now!"

She scrambled upright and ran towards the massive metal being without looking back.

"Hey you!" she cried at the top of her lungs and drew the blaster she salvaged from a felled minicon. As Ramjet turned toward her she fired and sent a ray of refined energon scorching across his unguarded faceplate.

The massive Cybertronian staggered backward, bellowing like a wounded elephant, one servo cupping the new scar that lanced over his optic. Elias allowed herself a small, tight grin and then ran like hell.

The first blast missed by a matter of feet, blasting a crater in the rock and throwing sand stinging into the woman's exposed skin. She dodged behind a massive pillar to catch her breath and check the mini-blaster's power and was on the move again before Ramjet could take aim.

"What did you do to me?" he howled, firing again and again, seemingly at random.

"I shot you!" Elias shouted. A blast seared through the air nearly close enough to burn.

Too close. Must be using sound to locate me. Did I blind him?

She turned for a fleeting glimpse at the 'Con and caught sight of Jed, lingering on the edges of the battle, entranced.

Jed, you idiot--!

"Get out of here!" she bellowed.

A stunning weight collided with her left side and sent her flying. She had time to see Jed duck and finally listen to her before her flight was broken by a crudely carved sandstone pillar, her head cracking against the rock.

Ramjet offered the limp form a cursory glance out of the one optic that remained. Dead, most likely. Humans were tenacious, but ultimately, quite squishable. Pity, he had rather hoped to repay her for the damage she had done to his optic.

Movement caught his attention, and he turned to see a human male fleeing. Ramjet gave chase and caught the struggling pest with ease.

"Let me go, you overgrown toaster--"

Ramjet snickered, only tightening his already vise-like grip around the struggling human. As if words would help him now!

"He said: "Let him go!"

Another shot glanced off his wings, but left only a superficial injury. Nevertheless, Ramjet's helm whipped back to see the human he had presumed to be dead standing where she had fallen with her minicannon in her hands.

Well. A day for the insects.

"Run, Elias!" Jed yelled, even though he had absolutely no room to talk. Ramjet thought so too.

"Quiet, you," he snapped, shaking the human. "Now, give me that cannon, and I'll probably even let you walk away."

Elias spat a very rude suggestion at him, but she was starting to wobble. The hit had been very hard.

"That's what I thought. Now enought playing, I think."  He lunged forward, intending to crush her with a swat from his free servo.

--Only to be knocked sideways by a blow strong enough to crumple his uninjured wing. Jed went flying, released by Ramjet's surprise and pain; landing with far more grace then Elias had.

Elias stared, her head spinning and stomach churning, as another massive robot entered the stage, intent on the seeker.

"You trespass where you are not wanted," the stranger rumbled from behind his silvery battlemask, delivering another blow that was powerful enough to send Ramjet reeling backwards into te shallow waters of the lake-edge. "You offer harm to those you have no quarrel with." He struck again. Ramjet tried to block, but in his daze it managed very little. His missile ring was knocked into the water.

Ramjet kicked out blindly, grazing the stranger in the chassis, but he rolled with the blow and came back up with a blade instead of a fist.

Elias watched, spell-bound, as the stranger dragged the seeker to his feet and pulled back for the killing blow. She knew she needed to run, but couldn't summon the strength to.

"Mercy, Prime!"

His plea did not fall on deaf audials. The Prime allowed his blade-arm to fall, though he kept a firm grip on the struggling seeker. "I cannot allow you to depart," he said, voice grave and level. There was no threat in that deep voice; if anything there was regret. "You have information that would cause immense suffering to those who have no quarrel with--"

"Primus, do you ever stop pontificating?" Ramjet demanded and swung his own blade-arm to rake across the Prime's chest. He got dropped for his pains, sending up another booming splash.

"As you wish," the Prime said grimly, and slashed. Ramjet blocked his strike and the blade skittered over the reinforced plating that formed Ramjet's shield arm. He circled out of the water, watching Prime. But his injuries were catching up with him, only compounding the fact that he was not as skilled a fighter as Prime.

Feint, block, slash, block. Ramjet roared a voiceless cry of defiance and fired at Prime, who dropped into a roll and came up under his guard; thrusting his blade through the seeker's spark chamber.

Sweet Lady of mercy preserve us, Elias thought, struggling to her feet. Jed still lay in a daze where he had fallen.

The newest titan turned toward Elias, and she, animated by a fresh surge of fear, scrabbled backwards, fighting down the dizziness.

"Stay away," she gasped, feeling bile surge into her throat. The cannon’s trigger was smooth beneath her fingers as she clutched the weapon tight to keep her hands from shaking too much. She had no illusions: If he wanted her, he’d come and get her regardless of her weapon. It had been purely a lucky strike that had injured the seeker, and whoever this bot was, it would obviously take far more than luck to put him down. 

And yet, he stopped in his tracks, studying her thoughtfully.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, Elias chanted, her heart beating a violent tattoo against her ribs. He had just put down the seeker in the fastest curb-stomp battle she had ever seen and she couldn’t even get to her feet to face him. Even with all her military discipline she was shaking almost hard enough to vibrate straight through the rock.

But then his battlemask receded with a soft hiss, and he dropped to all fours to regard her calmly from a height far closer to her own.

"I shall not hurt you," he rumbled soothingly. "I am Optimus Prime."

Chapter Text

New Kaon crouched on the ruins of old America's capital; a massive construction of metal built in classic Decepticon style. It had taken decades to accomplish, but Megatron finally thought he had a citadel worthy of him.

Starscream disliked it immensely.

Everything, from the spires that rose into a blue-- blue! sky to the art that adorned the walls, spoke of a world that no longer truly existed. Starscream hated the emotional responses that it summoned up and by extension, disliked the city itself.

All of this, he kept carefully beneath a mask of oily respect as he approached Megatron's throneroom.

"Lord Megatron," he greeted, spreading servos wide in a disarmingly servile pose.

The giant shape on the stony, marble-white throne shifted. "Starscream," he returned indolently. "What news?"

"Nothing of import," the seeker said dismissively, waving a long-clawed servo. "Taxes, oaths of loyalty, everything that is so important to the running of the new Decepticon state."

A single optical ridge went up. "No Autobot activity?"

"None."

Megatron rose from his throne, a look of idle curiosity on his scarred faceplate. "And what of Ramjet? I noticed that he did not report back to me after your return."

Starscream couldn't help but flinch backward as the merciless red optics bore down on him. Megatron paced closer, each movement as carefully measured as a predatory cat's.

"Ah," Starscream stalled, willing himself not to take a step backward. "He, ah…"

"Continue, please," Megatron said, a trace of a grin baring his sharp-filed dental plate.

"He abandoned me," Starscream lied, trying to keep the frantic pitch in his voice from showing. Megatron was very good at playing with Starscream's fears and insecurities; and seemed to instinctively know how to cow the slender seeker without even offering physical harm.

Yes, perhaps tossing the insubordinate seeker overboard had been, as the humans say, 'overkill,' but Vos himself! he had grown so tired of the snide little remarks Ramjet was so fond of making. "He was insubordinate and disobedient. Clearly he did not consider me worthy of leadership."

Megatron growled once, a deep, gutteral, grinding sound. "Did he now?"

"Yes."

Megatron turned away, into the sunlight that streamed in from the balcony that jutted over New Kaon. "Find him."

"Find--?"

"Yes, Starscream. Find Ramjet. Must I repeat myself so often?"

Starscream's optics darted nervously about the room. "But why, my lord? I had believed that he was a simple soldier, a--"

"I am sure you did," Megatron said darkly. "Otherwise I am sure you never would have ordered him thrown off your ship!"

Starscream's vocal processor shut down. He could only gape, looking admittedly, rather idiotic.

"Go," Megatron said. "You blundered, now you must fix your mistakes.. Recapture Ramjet or kill him."

Starscream wobbled out of the throne room, his joints still weak and wobbly. Though still confused, the seeker's all-too-clever processor was racing.

Chapter Text

Jed gazed around the makeshift base with poory disguised awe and curiosity, unable to prevent an enormous grin from painting itself across his face. The Autobots had become figures of legend in the fifty or so years since Earth had fallen to the Decepticons. Some revered them, some reviled them, but all respected them.

Elias gnawed a raw and bloody hole in her cheek, her heart pounding with learned fear from time as a guerilla resistance fighter. Despite her best attempts at controlling her automatic reactions, she still trembled and flinched away as Ratchet's comparatively huge digits as he examined her concussion with incredibly gentle, careful movements that contrasted violently with his sharp, irate tone as he barked at her to stay still.

"Be nice, Ratchet," Elita said. She offered Jed a small wave. He waved back and was rewarded with a grin. "She's probably spent her entire life running away from and fearing Cybertronians."

"Not just that," Elias retorted without thinking, then wished she hadn't even opened her mouth. Ratchet made a small sound, almost like a growl.

Optimus merely raised an optical ridge and turned to Chromia, who had been put in charge of 'storing' Ramjet's body, in lieu of more appropriate arrangements. "Thank you, Chromia," he rumbled. "Please contact Arcee and request that she and Cliffjumper return to base as soon as possible."

The violet-plated femme nodded silently.

The massive, red-and-blue Prime turned then to a smaller-framed yellow-and-black mech. "Bumblebee, watch over the humans until we can--"

"Hey, Prime, we might have--"

Cliffjumper ground to a halt, staring at Jed and Elias sitting on Ratchet's exam table. They, in turn, stared at the tiny human he held in his cupped servos.

"--a problem," Arcee finished, coming up behind her partner. "Who are they?"

Jed scrambled to his feet. "I'm Jed! Jed Bishop, at your service."

"At yours and your family's," Arcee responded dryly. "We found a human of our own too."

Chia started struggling again. "Jed? Esquivel? Jed, Jed, Jed, Jed!"

Cliffjumper dumped the little human on the table with her fellows. Ratchet growled at him and swatted at him, cuffing him over the helm. Chia hurled herself at the blacksmith in a tangle of long, skinny limbs, and wrapped herself around him like a spider-monkey.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I stole your knife," she muttered, her breath sobbing. "I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--"

Jed blinked, obviously nonplussed. Elias's eyes softened slightly, then she turned away.

"So what now?" the former soldier asked, looking directly at the tall Prime. "What do you do with us now?"

"We have yet to decide," Optimus replied gravely.