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Obsession	By : ChaoticReverie Category: Transformers > Transformers: Prime Views: 12092 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, nor any of the characters featured on the show. I am not making any kind of profit from this. It is written for your enjoyment and mine.

Chapter List
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Sequel to 'Attentions'. For those of you who have yet to read it, I would suggest taking a minute. It's just a oneshot, so it won't take long to catch up.

It grew harder and harder to pull herself from recharge every morning, Arcee noted grimly, though whether it had to do with her depression or the near-empty state of her fuel tank she couldn't be sure. Switching her optics online, she glanced around the barren expanse of her makeshift hideaway, noting that the sun had already risen. Light was filtering through the cracks of the dilapidated building she had claimed as a shelter, glinting faintly off the tip of her right pede.

She twitched the wary appendage, pulling herself up slowly as she gauged her energon levels. They were dangerously low, and while it would be enough to last her a few more solar cycles, she had no way of knowing when she might get her servos on more. Venting heavily, she decided it was time to head out again.

Shifting into altmode, she slipped through a hole in the wall – one that seemed to be getting bigger every time she used it. The foundation of her shelter was likely beginning to give way, and she grimaced internally at the notion of having to look for a new place to lay low.

'For the best,' she told herself. 'Probably get spotted if I stick around much longer.'

Weaving through debris, she took to the alleyways, not wanting to remain in open areas for any length of time. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, casting long shadows across the deserted city. She slipped from one to the next, letting them conceal her, using them to drift through the empty streets.

It was quiet - always was, the hum of her engine only pronouncing the silence. Primus, how she hated it. Roughly five orbital cycles of silence had her loathing the lack of sound, the lack of life. At one point she'd enjoyed it, even looked forward to what little time she could get to herself. Now, it served only as a reminder of how they'd failed.

Failed Optimus. Failed their friends. Failed the Earth… and all of its inhabitants.

The ruins thinned as she drove on, and soon she could see the city limits. Once she passed that boundary she was exposed and vulnerable, with nothing to shelter her from there to the treeline – a ten mile drive. It didn't seem like much, but during dark times such as these, every instant presented a danger.

Arcee steeled her resolve and accelerated, bittersweet nostalgia overtaking her as she recalled a time when solo rides like this had brought her a sense of peace. The wind sliding around her frame, the road stretching on before her, her troubles stripping away as she sped onward. There was none of that pleasant feeling now, only the desperate anxiousness to reach her the other side of the gap, along with the prickling tingle of fear along her struts.

Every nano-klik felt like an eternity as she drove, the treeline steadily growing closer. Paranoia had her checking her mirrors often, though luck seemed to be on her side this morning. Not a trace of life could be detected, but she knew how quickly that could change. The ever vigilant Seekers would come; she only hoped that by the time they did, she would have the cover of the forest canopy to shield her from their optics.

Time stretched on, and – as they tended to when she was driving for more than a handful of moments – her thoughts drifted, the face of her former partner passing behind her optics. He'd loved these long, quiet drives, when they'd had no place to be. What had once been a source of great enjoyment for the both of them now brought her little else but pain.

Her spark clenched sadly, and she forced herself to ignore it. If she had any hope of survival, of possibly lasting long enough to find the scattered, surviving members of their faction, she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her.

'You can't extinguish without first avenging them,' she reminded herself.

It had taken her some time to recover from their passing, her spark shattering yet again. For so long she hadn't even attempted to piece herself back together, feeling so lost and so empty. Yet, after a while, she'd come to the realization that none of them would have wanted her to go on like this. Tailgate, Cliffjumper, Jack, Miko, Raff, Optimus… they would have wanted her to keep going. That thought alone had lifted the veil of despair she'd been smothering herself in, had pushed her to move on, even if it hurt every step of the way. They were gone, but the others were still out there, somewhere.

The trees grew nearer, the towering pines blotting out the sun as she approached. A small amount of tension dissipated from her frame as she slipped beneath the cover of their branches, light filtering through the thin, bristled boughs in jagged patches, glinting warmly against her paint. Caution never completely abandoned her, however, and she had every reason to be wary. While she would be much harder to spot from the air, the roads through the forest were endlessly winding, and trouble could be lurking just past the next bend.

It wasn't long before her audio receptors picked up the angry rev of engines, and she veered sharply off-road and into the brush. The trees were tall and narrow here, hardly providing adequate concealment. She went as far as she dared before tipping onto her side and skidding to a stop behind one, cutting her motor, and staring fixedly at the curve of the highway just ahead. She only hoped that they would overlook her at this distance.

Two black cars – drones – appeared from around the corner, and she watched with a fluttering spark as they passed, never slowing. The pair drove straight by her prostrate form, carrying on down the road until she could no longer see them.

She vented in relief, transforming and pushing herself up on shaking limbs. The wary femme waited another handful of kliks before approaching the highway, considering how wise (or unwise) it would be to continue travelling via pavement. While it was certainly faster to drive, there was no way of knowing when the next patrol would come, or whether she would be so lucky a second time. It would be safer for her to keep herself from plain sight, even if that meant covering less ground.

Turning from the road, she slid back into the trees, moving as quietly and as quickly as she was able in this form. She didn't know how far it would be to the next settlement – or rather, what remained of it.

Again, guilt lanced through her, leaving a bitter taste on her glossa. After the incident on Cybertron, the Decepticon's presence on this planet had been made known, and Megatron had wasted no time in crushing any and all who acted against him. Mass devastation had been dealt out across the globe as a warning to all of mankind, towns and cities reduced to rubble, leaving vast expanses of the Earth barren of life. It had been so very long since she'd last seen a human.

And it was her fault, in part. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she had to live long enough to make up for her failure. If she could find the others, even one or two…

'Don't get ahead of yourself,' the sceptic in her reminded. 'You have to find a new shelter first, and an energon source to get you through the next few solar cycles.'

By the time the sun was at its zenith she was beginning to tire, and there were still no signs of a suitable lodging. Travelling at such a pace in this form was incredibly taxing, and Arcee doubted she could continue on much longer. If she had any hope of making good time, she would have to chance the road again – it was her only option at this point.

Just as she was about to change course the wind shifted, bringing with it the smell of something unexpected. Smoke. Her optics widened, and she turned to glance at the sky, peering through the mess of branches for the spiralling grey cloud she knew she would find. Hope and caution warred within her spark when she caught sight of it. It could mean humans… or it could mean Cons. Both scenarios presented their own set of dangers, though they also presented opportunities. If the source was man-made, there was a chance she could find shelter within their midst. She would simply have to sneak in unseen and then remain in her alt-mode for the duration of her stay. Since the attacks had begun, humans were not overly keen of Cybertronians - factions mattered little.

If the smoke turned out to be from some kind of Decepticon operation, it would give her a chance to steal supplies… so long as she didn't get scrapped by the lousy fraggers first.

She slowed as she neared, crouching low to the ground as she scaled a small rise. Peering over the top, she balked at what she found. An Autobot ship… in a very sorry state. Judging by the damage to the hull - and the deep gouge it had left in the soil - it had been shot down. This wasn't the first ship she'd come across, though all of the others had been cleared out before she'd arrived. Some had belonged to their faction, others to the Decepticons. She didn't know if Megatron had sent out some kind of signal as of late, but it seemed the traffic to this planet had increased rather substantially since the incident on Cybertron.

The ramp was open, and all manner of supplies were lined up in an orderly fashion around the smouldering wreckage. Among them were the bodies of the pilots and passengers, all offlined… poor things. They hadn't stood a chance.

Then, the blue femme caught sight of something that made her double take. A stockpile of energon cubes – unguarded – was stacked amid the pilfered supplies. She didn't know if the ones looting were still inside, but she did know that she only had a handful of nano-kliks to make a move. She couldn't take it all, no, but even a few of them would last her three or four orbital cycles.

She did a quick sweep of the area, and – finding it clear – she began descending the slope, her gaze fixed on the ship. The instant her pedes reached the bottom of the incline she sprinted desperately toward her goal, a triumphant grin touching her lip components for the briefest of moments before being replaced by a grimace of shock and agony.

Painful jolts pulsed through her frame, paralyzing her instantly and sending her crashing to the ground. The sensation subsided, and her vision began to fade, her audio receptors faintly picking up the sound of a raspy chuckle.

'A trap,' she realised far too late, her senses dimming. 'How could I… have been… so stupid.'

Turning off the stun setting, the hunter propped his gun against his rotator-cup, smirking as he assessed their latest catch. "I told you one of 'em was bound to come crawling outta the woodwork if we left it out a little longer. Something like that is too tempting to resist if you're an Autobot on the run, barely scraping by."

His larger, heavily armoured companion nodded in agreement, optics brushing lazily over the two-wheeler. "It's been a good haul; six bodies and a ship full of goodies. You can't get much luckier than that."

The shorter one snickered, levelling his weapon at the fallen femme. "Too bad for you, sweetheart, looks like your luck's run out."

"Don't you think we oughtta search her file first?"

"The others were all nobodies."

"She wasn't with the others. Look her up, BlackOut… just in case."

Venting in annoyance, the smaller mech lowered his gun, pulling a data pad from his subspace and switching it on. Scanning her prone frame, he waited as the device scrolled through files, brow-ridge quirking when a match appeared. He ignored the knowing glance his companion sent his way and opened it, though the contents were not at all what he'd expected them to be.

"Whoa."

"Find something interesting?"

"Looks like this little femme was part of Team Prime. She must've pissed Megatron off somethin' bad; says here she's wanted alive," the dark mech hummed as he read. Powering off the data pad and slipping it back into his subspace, he chuckled as he regarded their new captive. "This just isn't your solar cycle, two-wheeler."

The larger of the two bent and lifted her from the ground, hauling her up into the crook of one scuffed grey arm. "I'll take her to the ship. Let's get the rest of this loaded and be on our way."

Gripping the handle of a palette, BlackOut followed after his partner, the stack of cargo floating smoothly along behind him. "I hear Megatron pays handsomely for those on his 'most wanted' list. Maybe we can get a few upgrades outta this exchange."

Huffing in agreement, Gearbox shifted his hold on the slack captive, admitting, "I could use some new bearings; mine are starting to wear."

"You think too small, my friend. I'm referring to firepower," the sleek mech taunted.

"A new canon won't do me much good if I can't lift my arm to use it," the tall, grey bot fired back, scuffed brow-ridges furrowing.

BlackOut laughed as he shadowed his partner up the ramp.

Arcee struggled to pull herself together, the muffled sounds of conversation keeping her clinging to consciousness. She tried moving, but her entire frame was numb, the effects of the stun-shot still present. A sudden jostling, and the feeling of something hard and cold against her back seemed to jolt a bit of awareness into her, and for a brief moment she was able to online her optics. Two blurred forms came into view, their voices somewhat stifled, but audible enough for her to pick out a few words.

"Ho ho! Looks like... a fighter."

She flexed a servo, testing her range of movement. If she could just get her blaster out…

"Another shot…... do it."

The searing burn of electricity through her circuits had her rearing up, denta ground together as the charge had her sensors flaring painfully. When it finally subsided, she instantly slipped into oblivion, all vestiges of wakefulness gone in an instant.

BlackOut smiled. "Sorry, but we can't afford to have you slipping away on us."

Gearbox propped her against the wall. "I'll cuff her up, just to be sure."

"Good. Now let's get moving. Best not keep the boss-bot waiting."

…

Bolts of blue energy screamed through the sky, and Arcee felt her spark seize in her chest as she watched it disappear into the funnelling green vortex above. The Earth… how could he?!

Before she or any of the others could react, Optimus had separated from the group, reclaimed his weapon, and was charging furiously toward his adversary. Holding tightly to the canister Jack was sealed in, there was little else she could do but watch as their leader bypassed the warlord, and proceeded to do something none of them had expected. He destroyed the Omega Lock.

The shockwave from the explosion nearly swept her from her pedes, but Bulkhead's steadying servo kept her grounded. Regaining her wits, she peered through the smoke, venting in relief when she saw Optimus approaching.

The sound of Megatron's foreboding laughter made them all pause, the Autobot leader turning to gaze questioningly at his wounded enemy.

"You've saved no one, Optimus, you've only delayed the inevitable. Humanity will fall, starting with your precious little pets."

Movement from the corner of her optic drew her gaze to the tyrant's second in command, whose narrow faceplate was split with a sinister grin. He withdrew something from his subspace, and dread flooded her processor as she realised it was a detonator.

"No!"

Her plea went unheeded, the seeker pressing one long talon against the activation switch. The canister in her servos emitted a rapid beeping, her optics snapping to Jack's terrified face as he realised what was happening a second before the bombs detonated.

The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion, her body flying through the air as the force of the blast threw her. She met the ground hard, screeching to a stop amid the fiery debris. Her helm was ringing, her vision blurred, but she still managed to pull herself up. The damage to her frame was minimal – a handful of minor lesions – but she noticed none of them. All she could focus on were the blackened marks where she, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee had been standing, the ground bare save a few, small pieces of twisted metal… but there were no bodies. No trace of Jack, Miko, or Raff. The children… they were gone.

Bulkhead's pained cry was the most deeply disturbing thing she'd ever heard, the large wrecker wailing in despair as he stared in horror at the charred surface. Her gaze drifted to Bumblebee, who was staring at his trembling servos, helm shaking in denial.

An all too familiar pain welled up inside of her, and her legs buckled beneath her.

"What have you done?"

Optimus' quiet utterance drew her attention. His expression – his ever steady expression – was distorted in shock and disbelief. She'd never seen their leader look so lost before.

A dark form appeared behind him, and she tried to call out, tried to warn him, but the words were lodged in her voice box. She watched, mortified, as Megatron appeared through the smoke, rearing back and then plunging his only servo through Optimus' back. He let out an agonized shout, pain tensing his frame, and the smiling warlord leaned in over his arched form.

"Your time has come, Prime. One shall stand, and one shall fall."

He rent his razor-tipped servo from their leader's body, energon painting the tyrant's chestplate and fauld with brilliant blue spatters. His fanged grin widened, and his hellish red optics shifted to catch her gaze. She knelt, frozen beneath his stare, horror paralyzing her.

She heard some of the others cry out as Optimus fell to his knees, his life's fluid pooling beneath him. He raised his helm, taking a moment to look at each one of them, before ordering Ratchet to open a bridge. The portal opened, but none of them made a move toward it, each rooted to the spot.

"Go," he instructed, his voice quiet.

No one moved.

"Go!" he said again, pleading more loudly.

His optics met hers as they began to dim.

"Please."

She was torn, her processor a riot of confusion and her spark twisting in pain. Yet, as she heard the words leave him, she knew they had to listen. She didn't know what they would do – what they could possibly do without him – but right now they needed to get out of here, or everything they'd sacrificed would be for nothing. The deaths of their allies could never be avenged. Megatron could never be brought to justice. They had to go, and they had to do it now.

She pushed herself up again, forcing her pedes to move, trying not to let the agony of their losses weigh her down. She stumbled first to Bumblebee, wrenching him up along with her. He followed, and it took both of them to get Bulkhead off the ground. Smokescreen came at her command, his optics never leaving Optimus. He hesitated as he neared the spacebridge, and she took hold of his servo, tugging him along.

"Optimus," he started, still refusing to look away.

"He gave you an order, soldier," she reminded him, finally breaking his stare. He seemed afraid when he glanced down at her, and she tightened her grip, reiterating his orders. "Let's go."

With one final glance at his kneeling form, they both sprinted into the portal, despair darkening their sparks as it closed behind them.

…

Arcee jolted awake, trembling as the last vestiges of memory faded. It wasn't the first time she'd relived that horrific event during recharge, but it had been some time since it last haunted her. The pain in her spark fluttered to life anew, having been dampened slightly over time.

The two-wheeler laid back, venting hard, and thought about the others; where they might be, if they were still alive. She hadn't seen a single trace of any of them since they had split up. She'd been the last to leave through a ground bridge, apart from Ratchet, who had insisted she go before him. Given his grieved state at the news of Optimus' passing, a part of her felt it was likely he hadn't left at all. But she couldn't be sure, not really. She could only hope she was wrong.

She shook her helm, trying to dispel the negative thoughts. Times were dark, and she had to keep on going, for Optimus. He had sacrificed himself so that they could live, so that they might succeed where he hadn't.

The small femme closed her optics and renewed the vow she had made to herself all those orbital cycles ago; to never let her sorrows get the better of her, to keep on fighting for the Autobot cause. She would find her team, and they would finish what their beloved leader had fought so valiantly for. She would see her loved ones avenged, and all the inhabitants of Earth and Cybertron liberated from the warlord's oppression.

Arcee clenched her servos as she reminded herself of her purpose, her focus so rapt that she missed the sound of a door opening, missed the other presence in the room until his deep, dreadful voice shattered the silence.

"Finally awake, I see."

Her optics snapped open, instantly locking onto the massive form looming in the doorway, his red gaze piercing her.

"Welcome to DarkMount."

Blah! This took so much longer than I hope it would. Yuck. My month has just been… hell, honestly. But, it's a new month, and my muse is feeling productive as of late, so let's hope that she isn't planning on being as fickle and flighty as she usually is.

Hope you all liked it, considering how long you had to wait. TT^TT
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Obsession