Bumblebee wished he could have gone offline with the rest of his teammates. He was now responsible for the deaths of eleven autobots. He felt terrible, worse than slag.

Raf knew that his guardian was mentally beating himself up, but nothing the boy said successfully snapped him out of it. He wished there was something he could do, and he felt equally responsible for the team's destruction. He'd been weak enough to be hurt by Knockout's shock prod, and Bumblebee had had to save him. Again. Curse his pathetic, fleshy body.

The two ranted inside their heads, doing nothing but making themselves feel worse and worse. But neither of them knew that Megatron was taking a secret pleasure in watching them suffer.

The warlord smirked. He'd been planning on exterminating them after he'd disposed of team prime, but now he was reconsidering. Maybe they could serve another purpose, but had yet to figure one out. Maybe they could be kept on display, like the flesh-bags had in zoos. After he'd taken over Earth, they would be the last surviving autobot and human. But since the other autobots were gone, he'd have all the time in the world. So it wouldn't hurt for them to remain in the brig for a while longer while he figured out a use for them. Besides, then he could watch them torture themselves.

-oOo-

Rafael floated in and out of consciousness, vaguely wondering why Megatron was keeping them alive. He felt useless, merely a decoration hanging from the ceiling. A puppet for the warlord's every whim. Sleeping was his main hobby, seeing as he had nothing else to do.

The guilt of his friends being nothing more than rusting, empty husks was also taking its toll. From the way Ratchet has always talked, Bumblebee was now the sole remaining autobot in the universe, apart from maybe Wheeljack. But nobody had heard from the wrecker in a year, and nobody knew where he was.

And of course, being locked in the Nemesis, they had no way to contact Jackie. Not fully conscious, Raf drifted back into a fitful sleep.

-oOo-

Smokescreen found himself pacing more and more as the days passed. The decepticons hadn't made another move since then, proving that they thought the autobots were permanently offline. The rookie looked over at Hound, who was sitting on the floor with his optics offline.

The loss of his mate had hit him hard, and Smokescreen knew that his spark was searching for the bond that had linked him to Mirage. But it was encountering nothing but empty space, and causing Hound pain. Smokescreen wondered how much longer Hound would be able to hold out for. Usually when a Cybertronian's mate died, the remaining 'bot followed shortly after. But so far, the scout was holding on.

Jazz was also mourning for Mirage, but in his own way. The two had been somewhat close back on Cybertron, during the first days of the war. He was listening to various styles of earth music very loudly. Ironhide had already snapped at the saboteur a couple times about the music, and Jazz's only response was to turn it up louder.

Smokescreen knew the spy was still blaming himself for the demise of the two youngest members, and mourning for Mirage wasn't exactly helping. But Smokescreen didn't know what to say to the spy, so he remained silent.

Jazz suddenly turned off his music, making both Smokescreen and Ironhide look over at him.

"Ya know wha' Ah jus' realized?" Jazz asked, looking a bit surprised. "It took the 'cons th'ee days ta attack us aft'ah 'e got the coo'dinates from 'Bee. Megsy woulda never known where we were. But why wait th'ee days?"

"So we wouldn't be expecting it?" Smokescreen asked, slightly confused at where Jazz was going.

"Nah, it's not like Megatron ta wait fer somethin' like that," Ironhide said, a look of realization dawning on his faceplates.

"Guys? I don't follow," Smokescreen said, looking between the two.

"He's gotta be plannin' somethin' else," Ironhide vaguely cleared.

"'E is the master o' schemes," Jazz snorted. "Even though they don' always wo'k."

"So what are you suggesting we do?" asked Smokescreen. By now, all the other autobots and Miko had filtered into the room of their makeshift base. No conversations had lasted this long since Mirage's death and the base's demise.

"Ah dunno," Jazz shrugged. "Ah'm not the one in cha'ge. But that's jus' what Ah've noticed."

Smokescreen started to pace again, mulling over what the two had said.

"We need to rest, and get our strength back," Ratchet put in, drawing the rookie's attention back to the group. "I have very few tools for repairing and we're low on energon."

Smokescreen shook his helm and stopped moving again. "No. This game of 'cat and mouse' has gone on for too long now. We barely defeated them at Darkmount, and we can't hold out forever. Every day our number dwindle. How long until we're back in the single digits? They always have two vehicons to replace every one we take down." He paused for a moment, mentally pulling himself together and searching for what to say next. His voice lowered. "I lost a brother the day we lost Bumblebee. It is pointless and agonizing to watch 'bots die and not move this war further forward. How many more are going to have to die in vain before we make a move? I say we strike now, while they aren't expecting it, and end this war."

Silence followed for a moment, and then the assembled 'bots began to clap. Optimus boomed, "Spoken like a true Prime."

Smokescreen ducked his helm and mumbled, "Thanks."

"Smokescreen? A Prime?" Bulkhead asked. The rookie leveled a glare at the green wrecker.

"Yes," Optimus said, making Ratchet look at his leader skeptically. "Six years ago, Smokescreen brought me the Forge of Solas Prime in my time of need. The matrix told me that he had the makings of a Prime, and I have been training him ever since."

"And you didn't tell us this why?" Arcee asked, slightly hurt.

With a small smile, Optimus asked, "Would you have believed me before his speech?"

Ultra Magnus chuckled. "I remember when Sentinel Prime took you on as his trainee. Smokescreen seems to be handling the news quite well." Optimus gave another tiny smile.

"Let's get this show on the road," Smokescreen interrupted, pulling everyone's attention back to the task at hand.

Hound pushed himself off the floor, wincing at the slight pain. "For Mirage," he rasped.

Arcee nodded. "For Tailgate and Cliffjumper."

"For Seaspray and Perceptor," Bulkhead added.

"For Sideswipe and Sunstreaker," Ironhide said.

"For Blaster," Jazz put in.

"For Kup and Hot Rod," Ultra Magnus listed.

"For Bluestreak and Blurr," Prowl replied.

"For Red Alert and Inferno," Ratchet monotoned.

"For Bumblebee," Smokescreen said determinedly.

"For Raf!" Miko interjected.

"And for every other autobot who was lost to the cause," Optimus finished. "Autobots, roll out!"


A/N: My favorite chapter so far!