Shards (Transformers Prime, Shattered Glass)

Chapter 25

"The Itsy Bitsy Human hide beneath the couch," Smokescreen sang as he pinched Jack's leg and tugged on it, trying to extricate the terrified boy from the piece of furniture "Off snapped his arms because he wouldn't come out and say hi!"

"Alright! Alright!" Jack screamed "Let go and I'll come out!"

Smokescreen released him and Jack pulled his legs under the couch with the rest of his body.

"Hey! Liar! Get out!" Smokescreen picked the couch up and gave it a violent shake.

Jack wailed in terror as he lost his grip and and went plumetting. His "internship" would have ended appoximatly eight minutes and thirty nine seconds after it had began if Optimus hadn't caught him.

Jack grit his teeth, there was nothing to be done about the tears, he was already crying a river, but he could at least keep from sobbing.

It was hard, Optimus's broad flat hand wasn't much softer than the concrete floor and Optimus had some bizarre current running through him, like electricty. It raced through Jack's bones and settled in his stomach, sickening him.

"Smokescreen I told you not to touch the human!"

Smokescreen tried to whimper out an apology but Optimus had already dumped Jack onto the platform and wound his arm back.

Smokescreen shrieked as he made a dent in the far wall.

"Wait! Don't! I said I was sorry!" The rest of his apology as drowned out by the sound his metal made as his crumpled beneath Optimus' fists.

"Issit dead?"

Jack looked up in time to see another huge hand descending.

"I'm fine! Leave me alone!"

Ratchet didn't seem to get the message and continued to try to poke at him.

Jack gave up and dashed off the platform, but before he'd gotten far, he tripped.

As he tried to scramble back up, Optimus threw Smokescreen across the room again and he landed inches away from Jack.

Jack stumbled and fell to his knees again and couldn't manage to get back up.

Again he found himself being scooped up, though this time it was the only possibly sane Autobot.

"Are you damaged?"

Jack shook his head.

Wheeljack surveyed the chaos of the base then looked back at Jack "I am going to patrol, you will accompany me."

"Yeah, sure, I'll accompany you," Jack agreed. Any reason to get out of there.

----

Vince wasn't sure when Raf and Sierra left, but he was glad they were gone. They kept talking and he just couldn't focus on what they were saying.

Dreadwing and Soundwave had gone too and it was quiet except for the quiet hum of some unseen machines.

He could almost fall alseep if it wasn't for the persistant ache in his shoulder.

Distantly he heard the doors open and the clomp of metal feet approaching, but he didn't bother looking up until he heard a faint sigh.

"Are you awake?"

With considerably more effort then such a small task warrented, Vince managed to nod his head.

"You'll be wanting these," out of the corner of his eye, Vince saw a slender hand set down a human-sized waterbottle and box.

"What...is it?" Vince managed, reaching to open the box.

"Pain medication. Take two pills and swallow them with water and then try to rest."

Vince managed to pick out two pills and downed them with a gulp of the lukewarm water.

He settled back and forced his neck to arch up enough to look at the 'con "You're Knockout."

"I'm suprise you remember me," the doctor raised an brow and squinted his blue eyes.

"Don't," Vince laughed softly "Your legs...all busted up...from when I hit you...Sorry 'bout that."

"Ahh," Knockout glanced down "Don't worry, it's really just cosmetic. I'll replace it all later."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. No big deal. However humans take quite a long time to repair themselves and the process is expidited by rest."

"If you didn't want to bother with me, you coulda left me in the car."

"Well the accident was my fault."

"I was speeding," Vince pointed out.

"True."

----

It was hours later. Knockout had been bustled off to his quarters for some recharge by Breakdown and Starscream, Vince was asleep, and Soundwave was supposed to be sleeping, not curled up again next to Megatron's sickbed.

So naturally when the doors whooshed open, he thought he was busted and Breakdown was going to haul him off for bridge duty or something totally unimportant like fighting Autobots.

"Woah," said definitly not Breakdown "What happened to him?"

Soundwave shot his most venemous glare up at Shockwave, it was totally negated by his mask, but it was the thought that counted.

"What do you mean what happened to him? Where have you been?"

"By my calculations, I was in the labratory."

Soundwave let his head fall back down back to the edge of the slab "You're useless."

"Hey, I can do stuff. That makes me not useless," Shockwave poked Megatron hesitanly "So, what's wrong with him?"

Soundwave sighed "Optimus shot him and now he just won't wake up."

"Huh, weird."

"Yeah, 'weird'," Soundwave snapped sarcastically "Like you know anything about it."

"Actually," Shockwave jabbed his finger in the air for emphisis "I might."

Soundwave slowly changed each pixel across his mask until it was an angry Autobot red.

"No, I'm serious. Ever heard of a cortical physic patch?"

"You talk about it all the time, you made it."

"I made it!...Oh wait... Well yes, I made it, and you know what it does?"

"Yes. I. Do." Soundwave stood up "And if you don't get to your point Right. Now. I'm going to bridge you back to that swamp and bury you myself."

Unfazed by Soundwave's mean cop act, Shockwave continued "He's registering brainwave activity, right?"

Soundwave shrugged and pointed towards a screen.

"He's not dead!"

"So yes."

"The point?!"

"Well, what I'm trying to say that maybe, Megatron's mind is stuck in some sort of endless loop. If someone entered his mind via my brilliant cortical patch, it's probably possible that they could break the loop, so to speak and wake him up."

Soundwave was quiet for a second, then he nodded "I'll do it."

Shockwave, apparently bored of the conversastion, had already started to putter off.

"Shockwave! Get the patch! We're doing this right now!"

"Cool."

----

The cord stung as Shockwave attatched it to the back of his neck and Soundwave shifted uneasily on the slab.

"Activating in three...two...one."

It was like the moment a ship hit lightspeed as the stars stretched out in the darkness and then evaporated into darkness. Only this wasn't space and he was in freefall into Megatron's mind.