Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

44. Maybe

"Jewel?" Li called out quietly as she stalked through the halls, doors opening as she passed, but she couldn't see her guardian inside anyone of them. Sighing, her shoulders slumped a bit. "Where the hell is this woman?"

Quieting her mind, Li slunk into the shadows and attempted to get some sort of read on JewelBlade. "Come on," she muttered hastily. "Come on." Taking a deep breath, Li focused and followed the invisible thread that led her to JewelBlade. Her cell wasn't too far away, but it was on the edge of the section that housed the cells.

When the doors opened, JewelBlade didn't look up. The words "My answer hasn't changed," tumbled out of her mouth.

"Jewel?" Li called out to her quietly as the doors closed.

Blade immediately looked up, optics wide. "Li, what are you doing here? Megatron isn't going to wait around forever, he's going to come back and if he sees you, he'll kill you."

Li shrugged, flying up to where the chains held Jewel from the ceiling. "Then we'll just split before he gets here. No big deal." Her claws came out and she stuck one into the joint of the cuff, sliding it around in an attempt to unlock the mechanism.

"Hide," Blade muttered, the faint sounds of peds approaching her cell. Li caught it only a moment later, and cursed under her breath as she flew up to the ceiling, concealing herself in the shadows.

Shuttering her optics, Blade attempted to conceal the tension she felt as the peds came closer . . . Closer . . . Until the doors slid open, and the mech she'd almost loved stood there.

Blade stayed silent, not wanting to give anything away until they could make a break for it.

Megatron surveyed the room briefly, entering cautiously, his gaze becoming focused on the femme that hung prisoner in front of him.

"Are you enjoying your stay, Maiden?"

She vented softly. "You say it as if I have a choice," she murmured, the fight fading from her voice.

"No, no," Megatron answered, pacing in front of her. "That obviously isn't the case, but even privileged prisoners are given certain comforts. Those with value as prisoners, anyway."

"Why me?" She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "So many others could be carriers just as easily."

He paused for a moment before looking at her again, his hands clasped behind his back. "You have given me so much grief . . . And yet there was a time when I imagined we would have sparklings . . . Though this will not be identical to that scenario, it would be similar enough that I might find it possible to not hate you at some point in the future. You would be providing the Cybertronian race with a future. Surely you didn't just become one of us just to be a foot soldier."

Words were lost to her. This was a demented plan, and one she hated, but she had to keep his attention so he wouldn't notice BlackLight above them.

"You truly believe I'm better than just a foot soldier?"

"You're so much more than that," Megatron answered quietly, his optics lighting up as he watched her carefully.

Venting deeply, Blade paused, mulling it over hesitantly before looking back up at him. "All right. I'll do it. I'll be what you want and help our race survive . . . Please don't be too cruel to the Autobots when you corner them. They're not all bad."

Megatron chuckled, shaking his helm in amusement. "You're far too kind to them, Maiden. Even with how long you were with them, surely you must realize how much they've set us back."