An unexpected surprise

All is not lost

-Athena's POV-

Athena wasn't her usual happy self. Ever since Megatron ripped her away from her carrier, she grew more and more depressed as the days went on. She recharged more, fiddled with her fingers boredly, and observed Megatron as he went on with his duties.

She saw things that neither Wheeljack or Ratchet exposed to her. She had no idea that a war was brewing, nor did she know the horrors of it. It wasn't until she saw her carrier again that she understood the consequences of being an Autobot in the Decepticon base.

Megatron was sitting atop his throne again, stroking her helm like she was some sort of pet. He would occasionally bark orders at nearby Decepticons or look at a datapad. Every time she tried to speak to him, he told her to shut up.

Of course, she didn't know what was happening to Wheeljack. She was too young to even understand why they were captured in the first place. She couldn't feel the pain he was going through thankfully, but she could feel his depression coming through their bond.

Megatron's harsh voice snapped her out of her daze and she peered over his arm to see what was going on. Two Decepticons approached the throne, dragging something in between them. She narrowed her optics, trying to see what it was. When she did figure it out, she was horrified.

"Carrier!" She cried out, struggling against Megatron's tight grip.

"Stop it! You cannot help him." Megatron snarled, tightening his grip.

"No! You hurt him! Why you hurt Wheeldack?!" She screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Because, my dear, he is the enemy. You are the spawn of the enemy, making you one too. If you weren't a sparkling, I would have you slaughtered on the spot..." Megatron growled.

"Let me go!" Athena sobbed, biting his fingers to make him let go.

He growled in pain, releasing her from his grip.

She scrambled over his armor, darting over to where Wheeljack was being held and falling on her knees beside him. She tried to get a reaction from him, but he wasn't responsive. "Carrier..." she sniffed, clinging to him tightly.

One of the Decepticons snatched her, lifting her up by the head. She shrieked, kicking at him and trying to get back to Wheeljack.

"Feisty little one." Megatron chuckled, taking her back into his clutches. "Don't worry, your carrier will be fine. If he gives us what we want."

"He will never bow down to you!" Athena screamed, kicking Megatron in the chest.

"That's funny, because last time I checked, he already did..." Megatron laughed, watching them drag Wheeljack away after they told him what information Shockwave had found out.

Athena watched helplessly as they dragged him away and continued to sob uncontrollably, burying her head in her arms. Nothing that Megatron did would stop her from crying.

-Later-

Megatron was tired of hearing Athena cry. It was beginning to get annoying.

"What is the point of keeping her here if she's just going to cry her spark out?" Shockwave had said to him earlier.

"Fine, take her to her carrier. There is no point in keeping her with me." Megatron huffed, handing Athena over to Shockwave.

Shockwave carried Athena down the corridor to the prison level, opening a door with the scan of his hand. He walked until he found the cell that Wheeljack was being held in, slowly opening the door to it.

Athena stopped crying and looked up, spotting him slumped in the corner. "Wheeldack!" She wailed, pulling away from Shockwave and running over to Wheeljack.

Shockwave sighed, closing the door behind him as he lumbered away.

Wheeljack groaned, slowly opening his optics. His vision was a bit fuzzy from energon loss, but he could still make out the form of Athena in front of him. "Oh Athena..." he said, pulling her in and hugging her close.

Athena clung to him for dear life, never wanting to let go again. "I missed you." She whimpered.

"I missed you too... you had me so worried! He didn't hurt you, did he?" Wheeljack rasped, quickly checking her over for any wounds.

"No, but you hurt!" Athena said, looking at the glowing blue energon leaking from his side.

"Don't worry about that, I-I'll be fine. All that matters is that we're back together." Wheeljack mumbled, gently stroking her back.

Athena sniffed, wiping away the tears from her optics. "Yeah... I'm never leaving you again..." she sighed, curling up against his warm armor.

"I'm never losing you again." Wheeljack replied, taking a deep breath and sighing. He held Athena close, leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling.

"Someday, we will escape from this place. We have to, for Ratchet's sake." He whispered, closing his optics and slipping into recharge.