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Everyone snapped their guns up to aim at Soundwave. He remained motionless and his blank faceplate simply stared back at them. Panels in the walls and ceiling opened, and sixteen blaster turrets deployed. They tracked around and locked onto their targets. June's helmet cameras analyzed each turret's position and calculated their aim. The paths appeared in her HUD and she gasped.

They're only aiming at the humans. Which was probably the only thing that would get the Autobots to back down.

The only comfort was her knowledge that their armor could take one or two hits and remain intact. Any more than that, though, and they'd be fried.

One of the Vehicons who'd brought the crate of energon into the room floated around behind Soundwave. He drifted closer, raised his blaster, and aimed it at the back of Soundwave's head.

Without even turning to look at him, Soundwave pointed his arm back toward the Vehicon, deployed his blaster, and shot him in the face.

"No," the female Vehicon moaned again, staring as the body tumbled slowly to the back of the room.

June looked over at Jack, Bumblebee, and Ashanti's team. Bee released a low, sullen tone, and began to lower his rifle. Starscream floated behind him, staring wide-eyed at Soundwave and gibbering and trembling.

Then, suddenly, something beside him stirred. June's eyes flicked to the right and she sucked in another deep breath.

Optimus had opened his eyes and started looking around. He reached out to the wall, grasped a handhold, and turned himself around to face Soundwave.

At the same moment, the air in front of Soundwave rippled and Miko appeared, hovering upside-down a few feet from his faceplate. Soundwave twitched slightly and tilted his head up to look directly at her.

"Hi." With a casual move, Miko stuck a satchel charge to his faceplate, reactivated her stealth system, and vanished. "Bye."

He whipped his right arm up to pull the charge off his face.

It detonated and the blast knocked him backward.

The female 'Con glanced over at Bee. "Activate the bridge while you have time."

Bee went back to work on the console. Optimus reached over to Bulkhead and grabbed the shotgun that was still clamped to his back. He aimed at Soundwave and said, "Everyone, move clear."

The wounded Vehicon pointed a twitching hand at the cubes of energon. His voice glitched. "Give--give--vvvvv--me one o-o-o-of those."

The female stared at him and shook her head. "What? No! No, don't even--"

"Ran d-d-d-diagnostic. Only have ffffff-few seconds l-l-l-lef--left."

The space bridge activated and a swirling green vortex filled the empty space in the center of the enormous metal ring.

"Everyone, evacuate." Optimus glanced at Bee without taking his aim off Soundwave. "Go. Take our friends home."

Starscream took one of the cubes from the crate and pushed it toward the wounded 'Con. The female grabbed it out of the air, hesitated, and handed it to her comrade. She turned him around and pushed him toward the floor. When he reached it, he activated the electromagnets in his feet and clamped himself to the floor. Starscream shoved the crate through the bridge and turned to grab the crates holding the parts for Arcee and Bulkhead. Bee sent Bulkhead through and turned back to Optimus.

"Hurry. I'll be right behind you." Optimus never took his optics off Soundwave.

Soundwave recovered from the blast, magnetized his feet to the floor, and faced Optimus. His faceplate had a spiderweb pattern of cracks across it, but was otherwise intact. The blaster turrets tracked the humans as they darted toward the space bridge.

"If you are thinking about shutting the bridge down or harming any of the humans," Optimus rumbled, striding forward and aiming at Soundwave's head, "reconsider."

Soundwave stared at him for several more seconds, unmoving, not showing the slightest hint of emotion.

The turrets opened fire. One of the beams struck June in the back and a barrage of warning notifications popped up in her HUD. She screamed and curled up, instinctively throwing her arms over her head, expecting any second to feel her flesh boil off her bones. Her heart pounded and for a second she couldn't breathe.

"Mom!" Jack's voice. She opened her eyes, looked around, and found him reaching for her as he drifted past.

The rest of the team recovered from the hits they'd taken and tried to turn and fire back while the turrets continued tracking them.

Optimus pulled the trigger. Soundwave twisted to the left a split-second before the huge projectile launched from the muzzle. It zipped past him, punched into the wall, and exploded.

At the same time, the turrets fired again. June gasped. No!

Behind her, someone screamed. Her HUD didn't register another hit. She tried to turn around to see what had happened behind her, but all she could to was tumble slowly.

The screaming continued.

"Christ," Jack moaned, sounding as if he were two seconds away from vomiting. "Dawson!"

Ashanti managed to grab onto the edge of a console and turn herself around. June caught a glimpse of her wide eyes and open mouth before she clenched her teeth and emptied her clip into Soundwave. The recoil sent her into a slow backward somersault, but she kept adjusting her aim to keep her bullets on target.

Optimus narrowed his eyes and continued firing at Soundwave, and Soundwave dodged each shot. Once the shotgun was empty, Optimus flung it through the bridge and extended his blades.

Bee shoved a fresh clip into his gun and blazed away at Soundwave, stopping only when Optimus took a step forward and raised his right arm into striking position.

Soundwave snapped his left arm up, reaching for something on the back of his head.

A sudden explosion threw him forward, and Optimus halted his advance.

One of the satchel charges Miko had taken, June realized. Before she could give it any more thought, Dawson drifted into view, and she reflexively tried to cover her mouth with her hand. Her palm hit the front of her helmet, but she barely noticed.

His armor was warped and bubbled all over, glowing white-hot in several places, and some of it flexed as he thrashed and screamed, turned semi-molten from the intense heat of the blasters. June realized he must've taken two hits, from the turret aimed at him and the one aimed at her. He must've drifted into its line of fire the instant it discharged.

And he was still alive--still screaming.

Soundwave regained his balance, raised his blasters toward Optimus--then another satchel charge appeared out of nowhere and struck his chest. He whipped his hand up to yank the charge off, but it detonated before he could touch it. The blast knocked him backward, but his feet remained attached to the floor.

Until another charge twirled down to his left foot, touched it, and exploded before it could bounce back. It kicked his foot loose from the floor and he grabbed a control panel to right himself.

"That's the last one," Miko whispered over the comms.

The damaged Vehicon stood just outside Soundwave's reach, held the energon cube in front of his chest, and pressed his blaster against it. Soundwave shifted the angle of his head slightly to stare at him.

"Fffffff-fire those t-t-t-t-turrets again and I'll roast us b-b-both off!"

Soundwave remained motionless. Twitching and trembling but not taking his optics off Soundwave, the Vehicon called out to everyone else. "Go. N-nnnnn-now!"

Starscream zipped through the bridge, propelling one of the crates ahead of him. The other Vehicon followed, and the female paused to rest her hand on the wounded one's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Goodbye."

"Sur--sssss-survive."

She nodded, turned, and headed for the vortex. Bee gave each human team member a gentle nudge toward the space bridge, and she joined him, pushing June, Jack, Harris, and Alvarez in the right direction. Finally, she scooped Dawson up in her hands and stepped into the bridge.

June rotated slowly, and Optimus came into view a few seconds before she floated into the vortex.

"I am also sorry," Optimus said to the Vehicon.

"Just m-make sure iiii-it was wor_rr_rth it."

"We will. Thank you." He disengaged his magnets and pushed off toward the bridge.

June couldn't take her eyes away from Soundwave and the Vehicon. The 'Con flicked a split-second glance at her and the others, waited until they were about to transition through--and fired his blaster point-blank into the energon.

A blue-white flash engulfed everything.

#

"I've got the link back!" Arcee closed her optics as everyone else jumped and snapped their heads around to look at her, startled by her sudden exclamation. She concentrated on her Pretender body, rebooted its systems, and opened its optics.

And found herself stuffed into a crate filled with the parts Bee had manufactured. She climbed out of them and looked around.

We're in space? What the hell did I miss? She held on to the edge of the crate and turned herself around, located Starscream and Bee and the crate holding Bulk's parts. A moment later she found Ashanti's team.

And the vortex of a space bridge. And two Vehicons.

Optimus emerged from the bridge an instant before an energon blast erupted from it. The vortex dissipated immediately.

Oh, shit. Arcee opened her comlink--and was bombarded by a man's gurgling screams. A chill rushed through her spark. "Jack?"

"I'm here, Arcee--I'm okay."

Arcee did a quick scan of her surroundings and found everyone's armor transponders--except Dawson. That was enough to tell her who was screaming.

Back in the Autobot base, Arcee glanced at Ratchet and snapped, "We need a ground bridge."

"Working on it! They're not in range yet!"

She nodded and focused on everyone around her Mini-Me, keeping an eye on the two Vehicons. Huh. They're not making any hostile moves. She pointed at them and arched a brow plate. "Optimus?"

"They helped us escape--at great cost." He turned to the two 'Cons. "If Soundwave knows about your rebellion, then so does Megatron."

One of them nodded. "I sent a warning to the others just before I entered the space bridge. If they managed to get away before anyone started looking for them, they'll join us as soon as they can."

Arcee pushed away from the crate and floated into Jack's arms. He pulled her into a tight embrace and sighed.

"It's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, babe. Damned good!" She looked over at Dawson, still held gently in the Vehicon's hands, screaming weakly. Another cold sensation washed over her. "What the hell happened? He looks melted."

"He was hit by the turrets in the ceiling and walls of the bridge room. Several times."

"Shit." She zoomed in on Dawson and found the inside of his visor splattered with blood.

Ashanti glanced at him, aimed her rifle in the opposite direction, and fired a single shot. The recoil propelled her toward him. The 'Con reached out to catch her when she'd drifted close enough. Ashanti looked at his visor and shuddered.

Dawson managed to moan something that sounded like, "Kih...muh...."

Ashanti froze. "You sure?" she whispered.

"Puhhhhhh...!"

"Jesus," June mumbled. "Did he say what I think he said?"

Jensen sighed. "Well, if I were in as bad a shape as he is, I sure as hell wouldn't want to live."

"Kih...muh...ki...kih...."

"Okay, okay. Shhh. I'll take care of you." Ashanti fumbled with the latches on his helmet, then stopped. "Goddamn it. The latches...it's all melted together. I can't...I'm sorry."

The only sound coming over Dawson's comm was a quiet sob.

She raised her rifle. "I wish I didn't have to do it this way, but--"

"I can," the Vehicon said softly. "I can make it quick. If you're sure this is what you want?"

He managed to nod. The 'Con looked at Ashanti.

Ashanti nodded slowly, reluctantly.

The 'Con held Dawson's body in her left hand and gripped his helmet with her right.

"Duhh...uht..."

She ended his pain with a quick twist. Ashanti held the body in her arms and let out a long, shuddering breath.

Arcee looked around slowly at everyone else, taking in their shocked or numb expressions, and noted that even Starscream looked unsettled, staring at Dawson's body with wide optics and parted lips. Finally, she put her arms around Jack again.

Back in the base, she opened her optics and looked over at Ratchet. "Are we in range yet?"

"Almost. They're drifting in the right direction. Twenty more seconds. I'm activating the bridge."

"Good. Let's bring everyone home."

"As soon as they arrive," Ratchet said, turning to meet her gaze as he pushed the lever and the bridge punched a hole through space, "I need to start operating on you. And I mean, immediately."

#

"Hey, Jack, Arcee."

He looked up and smiled shakily. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, June," Arcee said softly, smiling and waving her free hand while keeping her other hand clasped firmly around Jack's.

"Mind if I join you?" June motioned at the floor where he and Arcee's Mini-Me had been sitting for nearly an hour, watching Ratchet, Optimus, Bee, and the two Vehicons replace her and Bulkhead's damaged parts. Both of them were in such bad shape that the replacements needed to be done immediately for both of them. Since Ratchet could only perform one operation at a time, he and Bumblebee worked on Arcee and Optimus and the Vehicons handled Bulkhead, with Ratchet talking them through it.

Not the ideal situation, Jack had realized instantly, but a few extra pairs of hands were critical right now, and they had already sacrificed their future and willingly placed themselves in the hands of their sworn enemies. There was a definite chance that they could be trusted at least a little.

Jack nodded and his mom sank down onto the floor beside him. She put her helmet down beside her and let the back of her head thump gently against the wall. Dried tears streaked her cheeks and fresh ones were on the verge of spilling from her eyes.

"You okay?" Jack whispered.

"I don't know." She sighed. "We finished the preliminary examination of Dawson's body. Couldn't do much more because...Christ...when those beams hit him and his armor failed...that much energy...." She took her gloves off and wiped her eyes. "It partially melted the armor and flash-cooked his body. And fused the armor to his skin. He wouldn't have survived much longer, but however long it might've been...." She shook her head and sighed.

"Ashanti made the right call, then," Arcee said, reaching across Jack to pat her hand.

"She doubted it at first, but yeah, it was the right call." June sniffled and closed her eyes. "I've seen a lot of bad things, working in the ER back in Jasper. People who were in car crashes, people who had been shot or stabbed, kids with broken arms or legs from bicycle or skateboard accidents. Nothing as horrible as this, though. Nothing."

Jack put his arm around her. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Believe it or not," Arcee said, flicking a glance at Starscream standing out of everyone's way but remaining in everyone's view, "that's what Starscream said a while ago. He's been fighting us since the war started. I don't even want to think about the things he's done to captured Autobots, and he said he's never heard anyone scream like Dawson did. I never thought anything like that could shake him up, but it did, unless he's just putting on an act." She shrugged.

June nodded absently and continued staring at nothing in particular for a few more minutes. Finally, she sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, looked around as if searching for something to talk about, and pointed at the ongoing surgery.

"You're still conscious while they operate? Isn't that kind of...."

"Well, Ratchet turned my pain receptors off when I first started falling apart on the inside. And, well, he said that if he puts me into standby for the operation, I might not come out of it again."

What? Jack snapped his head around to stare at her and opened his mouth. She shook her head and held her hand up.

"Take it easy. I'm feeling a lot better now--I can tell some of my systems are running more smoothly. I think I'm out of danger now."

"Not quite," Ratchet half muttered, half snapped. "Getting there, though."

"Good enough for me."

Jack smiled, leaned over, and gave her a quick kiss. She grinned briefly.

"Okay, I definitely feel better now." She slipped her arm around Jack's shoulders and he leaned against her. She looked back at the others and said, "I wonder how Bulkhead's doing."

"Getting there," Ratchet grumbled. "Now, if we could work without distractions, please?"

"Sorry." Arcee glanced at Jack and shook her head.

Footsteps echoed into the repair bay. Jack glanced to the left and found Conrad and Mendoza approaching. Mendoza had a tablet tucked under her left arm. They smiled and waved.

"How are things going?"

"Hey, Rosalina." Arcee nodded at the still in-progress operation. "They're working on it. I just hope none of us ever have to go through any of this again."

"I know. The cost of this damned war is too high--for all of us." She turned to June. "I'm sorry Case and Dawson died. I wish I'd known them better."

"I'm kind of glad I didn't." June winced. "I know that sounds horrible, but if I'd known them better, it would've made losing them even worse."

"True. Well, the good news is, you'll never have to raid the Nemesis for parts again." She held the tablet out to Arcee. "Have a look at that. While Bumblebee was fabricating the parts you needed, he also copied the schematics for the fabricator itself and stored them on the memory unit that contained your specs."

It took Jack a moment to remember the USB drive-like device the 'Bots had brought with them. It seemed like a long time ago. Hard to believe it was only a couple hours.

Arcee scrolled through a few pages, grinned, and handed the tablet back. "That's wonderful. Once that's built, we won't have to worry about replacing parts ever again."

"Yep. Also, if your Pretender body is damaged beyond repair, you'll be able to build a new one." Mendoza scrolled to a specific image on the tablet and showed it to Arcee. "Not only that, but here's another part you'll be able to fabricate and install in your actual body if you want. Y'know, if you and Jack decide you want an additional option, just in case you're not able to use your Mini-Me for whatever reason."

"That's my favorite part, personally," Conrad said. Mendoza whapped him on the shoulder and he blushed.

Arcee stared at the image and raised a brow plate. "What's th--oh! Seriously? It's a pussy?"

June inhaled sharply, sucked a mouthful of saliva down the wrong pipe, and erupted into a coughing fit. Jack patted her back and raised an eyebrow at Arcee.

She passed the tablet back to Mendoza and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, uh, that is what they're called, right? Or did I get it wrong?"

"That's one word for it." Jack blushed.

"Oh, good. I was starting to think it's actually called a 'kitty' or something."

The outer ends of Jack's eyebrows dipped and the inner ones rose. Arcee grinned and nudged his shoulder.

"Gotcha."

"Oh, you're just--" Jack burst out laughing. Arcee grinned and put her arm back around his shoulders.

"That's better. I remember hearing somewhere that laughing is medicinal. Or whatever the saying is." She looked over at June. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'll recover," June rasped.

"Sorry. I didn't expect that to happen."

"That's okay, I didn't expect you to say something like that."

Arcee leaned over to pat her shoulder.

Jack shook his head. "You had me going for a second. I should've figured you'd know at least the basics after the 'research' you did."

June looked at Jack and grated, "Research?" She coughed again.

"Relax, we didn't do anything we shouldn't." Jack held his hands up. "Arcee got curious and downloaded some porn."

"That's...I mean, I wouldn't trust that kind of source for accurate information." June grimaced.

"Yeah, I may have gotten the wrong impression from the ones I watched." Arcee's optics widened and she shook her head. "The first time I saw a guy ejaculate, I thought something inside him broke."

June's mouth fell open and she shuddered and facepalmed. "I think my spirit just broke."

Jack chuckled. Well, at least this took her mind off Dawson. He held in a sigh. Great, now I'm thinking about it again. Goddamn it.

Arcee turned back to Mendoza and pointed at the repair table. "So, that's for my actual body?"

"Yep. Obviously, you had far more important parts that needed to be installed, but this can be added later, if you want."

"But wouldn't it be...um, well...I'm sixteen feet tall. Since everything on me is proportionally larger than a human's--"

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's based on the one your human-size body has." Mendoza smiled. "And you can adjust the tightness. And you'd also have a range of options similar to the software your Pretender body has, so you can adjust things like sensitivity."

"Why not just leave it on maximum?" Miko asked.

Everyone jumped slightly and looked to the left. There Miko stood a few feet away, leaning against the wall and staring at Bulkhead. She'd taken her armor off and replaced it with a pair of cargo pants and a plain black tank-top.

Mendoza chuckled. "Well, if Arcee did that, she could accidentally masturbate to completion just by walking across a room. I've found it's better to dial it way down until times when I need it for, um, its intended purpose."

Miko's eyes widened and she managed a faint smile. "Want!" The smile faded almost immediately, though, and she returned her eyes to Bulkhead, Optimus, and the two Vehicons.

Ratchet grumbled again. "By the goddamned All-Spark, if you people are going to continue that conversation, please take it outside!"

Arcee raised her hands. "Okay, relax. They were all really bummed out, so I wanted to lighten the mood a little."

Her eyes closed suddenly and she slumped against Jack. His heart pounded and he snapped his gaze over to the repair table.

Her Mini-Me reactivated, glanced around, and blinked a few times. She sat up straight and held Jack's hand. "Take it easy, I'm okay." She narrowed her optics at Ratchet. "Something interfered with my wi-fi for a few seconds."

"Well, that's the kind of thing that happen when I'm distracted. Point taken, I hope?"

"Yes. Crystal clear." Arcee leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

Prick. Jack scowled at him, but kept his mouth shut. Okay, he has a point. But still...prick. He slipped his arm around Arcee's waist. It took a while, but finally she relaxed.

"Easy, old friend," Optimus said, keeping his tone quiet. "They went through a very traumatic experience and need to break the tension."

Ratchet muttered and grumbled, but continued working in relative silence.

Mendoza walked over to Miko and smiled. "By the way, I hear you made a real difference in the battle. Five Insecticons in one shot."

Miko shrugged. "Doesn't change what happened to Bulkhead."

"No, it doesn't, but at least the one who did it will never harm anyone again."

"Guess you're right." Miko shrugged again.

Starscream took a few steps closer, fixed his shifty-eyed gaze on Miko and tapped his fingertips together. "I have to say, that was a most impressive explosion. How did you do it?"

"Satchel charge. Storage room packed to the ceiling with energon. Push one button, thirty seconds later, boom. Five dead motherfuckers."

Starscream's optics opened wider and he took a step back.

Jack smirked up at him. "Hurting Bulkhead is the quickest way to get on Miko's bad side."

"Ah, yes. Point taken." He backed off a bit more, his eyes growing even wider, and his red-glowing optics enlarging to nearly fill their sockets.

Jack and Arcee exchanged a wink and a smirk.

Miko stuck her hands into her pockets and kept her eyes on Bulkhead.

Starscream started to turn away, hesitated, and said, "Not to weigh your minds down with even more worries, but now that the Decepticons know you can deal out some serious damage, it's only a matter of time before they retaliate."

Oh, fantastic. Jack glanced at his mom. Her face turned pale and she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. We should've thought of that, I guess.

"Great," June muttered. "Just what we need."

Jack put his hand on her shoulder and looked at Arcee. She stared at Starscream for a few more seconds, turned to Jack, and laced her fingers through his. Then she drew her right knee up, rested her arm on it, and shook her head.

"Well, shit."