~Knocked-Out~

Into the Base.

Knockout POV

The air was silent, tense. She glared at us, and we glared back. No one dared to make a move. Slowly, a dark smile appeared on her lips, then, out of the corner of my optic, Arcee collapsed, crying out in pain. Starscream stood behind her, his claws drawn, smiling darkly also.

"Knockout, take care of Arcee!" Bumblebee yelled, before attacking Starscream. I ran over to Arcee. There were 3 longs gashes across her back, one of them leaking energon. She groaned weakly, and rolled over onto her back, whimpering at the pain it brought. I snapped my head up to Darkshade, who was staring at me with hatred in her optics. I silently cursed at her, then picked Arcee up bridal style, cautious not to touch her injuries, and stood up. Through the sound of metal clashing and beeping, I heard a gasp, and turned around, to look at Darkshade. She stared at me, her optics full of surprise and...sadness? She started shaking, and called for a bridge in a saddened voice. Was she...jealous?

~~~

3rd person POV

Darkshade didn't know why it was, or what it was, but when she saw that red mech pick up Arcee with such grace, and so gently, her spark had cracked, and tears had started to form in her optics.

No. Darkshade tried to push the thoughts out.

"I don't care for him anymore! He broke my spark! He killed my carrier!" She growled to herself. Yet, her spark binged, cracked, when she saw Knockout pick up the femme, and she let out a gasp. She couldn't take her optics off of them. Then, his optics met hers, and she couldn't look away. Then, with a great mysterious silence, she watched as a bridge open up behind him, and he looked away, and stepped in.

She didn't notice the dueling duo getting closer.

~~~

Bumblebee dodged yet another swipe of claws, and shot at Starscream, who dodged also. They had been doing this for what seemed like so long, yet they were getting nowhere. Neither one of them noticed the stare down between Darkshade and Knockout, and they most definitely did not notice the sadness in her optics. Bumblebee managed to get some distance between Starscream and himself, and shot. Starscream dodged, but turned around quickely when he noticed where the shot was going to land.

"Perfect" He thought with an evil smile. "Now I'll get my spot back, and I won't have that newbie Darkshade in my way." But as he watched the shot get closer to her in total slow motion, his attitude changed. He now felt...worry and shock towards the femme. His spark now beat quickly, and told him to go to her. He no longer felt the hatred he had felt when Megatron had introduced her, he now...cared?

"Darkshade!" Starscream couldn't help but yell the femme's name. She turned her helm slightly to see who had called her, when the shot hit. She cried out in pain, and collapsed, writhing around. Tears now flowed out of her optics, not in sadness, but in pain. The pain, oh the pain was impossible, it burned, her shoulder burned with such a fury, many would prefer death than this. Her scream lodged in her throat, and she started trembling, her breaths came out in shaky desperate blows of air. Her shoulder seared again, and any remaining energy she had was sucked away, and she fell, completely limp on the ground. She couldn't move. Why couldn't she move.

"Come on, get up!" She thought to herself, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move. Her entire body was numb, except for the shoulder, the injured shoulder. It hurt, oh it hurt so bad, she cried and cried. Please, just somebody make it stop! Through her muffled hearing, she heard many inexplicable noises, noises she couldn't make out. But, there were some that she could identify, from a mile away.

The thudding footsteps of retreating, the gentle whirr of the ground bridge opening, then silence. The only thing she now heard, were her own muffled screams as the fire spread, from her shoulder, down her arm, to her servo. Her servo clenched, her own claws digging into her plating, drawing energon. Soft ped steps approached her, and she forced her squeezed shut optics open. A skinny body stood over her, looking over like a medic did with his patients. She noticed the form immediately, and slid her optics shut, waiting for her certain death.