Past

~With Slade~

Slade chuckles softly, long hallways stretch across the large base, lights still barely flickering. His sword rests gently across his back, while Hunter walks cautiously behind him. The hallways are empty, although many doors litter the small area. Each room is similar, only a room. A few items that are random seem to be in some rooms, showing that someone did rest there at one point. 

As Slade walks down the hallway, a loud roar echoes from the main room. A smirk forms on his face as he begins to make his way there. 

~With Saber~

Saber jumps to the right just as a long claw swings her way, Bumblebee and Smokescreen together start blasting at the huge beast's sides. Distracting it long enough for Saber and Racer to run at it, Racer slashes at the beast's face, then switches off with Saber, allowing her to stab her blade into its neck. With final blows from the team, the creature falls to the ground. 

"Well, I hope there aren't any other's around here." Racer smirks devilishly at Bumblebee. 

"Aw, but we haven't had a good fight like this in a while!" He shouts, his blade resting against his shoulder blade in a goofy way. Saber smirks and walks towards the mech, using her blade to trip him as she continues on. "Hey! Saber!!!!" They all start laughing, unbeknownst to the dangerous red-eyed glare from the distance. 

"Come on guys, fool around all you want when we get back to Cybertron." The laughing comes to a slow stop and they all face Saber, nodding slightly towards their leader. She smiles softly and continues down another hallway. 

"So, what do you think he'll be like?" Racer asks, Bumblebee and Smokescreen are in the back keeping an optic out while Racer dances next to Saber with a lopsided grin on his face. 

"Why are you so excited, Racer?" Saber lets out a soft chuckle as they make their way down the darker hallway. Amusement flickers in her optics for a second, then disappear at the sound of a blade scrathing against the metal of the wall. Saber turns around quicker than any bot could process. Her servo planted sternly on the hilt of her blade. 

"Whoa, calm down Saber. There's nothing there," True to Racer's word, there is nothing there. Just the dark and gloomy-looking hallway. A servo gently rests on her shoulder pads, the touch relaxing her body. 

"Sorry, just paranoid." Racer flashes her one of his infamous smirks, then picks her up and slings her over his shoulder, "Racer?!" He starts walking back towards the other mech. The embarrassed femme smacks the mech over the head in annoyance and shock. "Racer you piece of scrap metal! Put me down!" Bumblebee and Smokescreen laugh along with the soon to be dead mech. 

"Aw, come on sweetspark-" He pauses and stops walking once realizing what he said, the guys all look over at Racer and Saber goes quiet. 

"Did you just....calm me..." Shock fills the room, Racer being Racer shrugs it off quickly. 

"Uh, yeah. So..." A loud bang nearby cuts off any thoughts about what had just occurred. He quickly sets Saber down and pulls out his swords. Saber takes the lead and begins walking down the hallway. After a few seconds of complete silence, they begin to reach the end. A large door sits tall and stern at the end. 

The only sound is the occasional louder pede-step. Smokescreen carefully opens the door, while Saber, Bumblebee, and Racer all get ready to fight if needed. The door opens and all three of them enter. 

It's empty. 

Saber looks around, lowering her blade so the tip of it barely scratches against the smooth metal floor. "I don't understand, this is where he's supposed to be, right?" Racer mutters, the sound from before flashes in Saber's optics. 

"Scrap." 

A mech drops from the ceiling and knocks Bumblebee to the ground, then another grabs Racer and pins him to the floor. Both of his blades are too far for him to reach, so he is weaponless as well. A frown forms on Sabers derma, the one mech she had been waiting for finally steps out of the shadows. 

"So predictable, I knew Racer would come along with, so that would be an easy promise to finish. And Bumblebee and Smokescreen, some of the youngest left of the last war. Not the brightest, just yet." Slade mutters while walking towards Saber, he stops a few feet away. On the ground is what shocked her the most. 

A red and dark grey mech who appears to be slightly taller than Saber, his optics are closed so she can't see his optics. A pair of blades rest on his back, the slight baby blue color contrasting against the dark grey of his armor. From the looks of it, his spark is still online, so he's just recharging. 

"Airen," She mutters, her optics flicker up at Slade. "I'm not letting you kill him Slade," A devilish smirk forms on Slade's faceplates, the look alone showing just how much he will enjoy killing her brother. 

"You know, Saber. It's not just Airen I've come to kill," Racer. He's going to kill Racer. If looks could kill, Saber would have murdered every Decepticon alive. 

"Touch either of them, and I will reject you." She growls, her spark nearly explodes at the thought of rejecting him. She can tell he felt the same. He begins to walk towards her, the look in his optics showing nothing of what he is thinking. 

"Leave Saber alone, tailpipe!" Racer shouts, anger flooding his optics. Slade ignores him and stops inches from Saber. 

"Rejecting me won't do anything for you, Saber. The second you reject me, I will destroy every Autobot base there is in this galaxy and the next one, and the next, and the next. Until I find every Autobot in the universe. Then I'll make you watch as I slay every last one of them." This isn't the Slade she fell in love with, this is the Slade that won't hesitate to kill every Autobot he comes across. 

"Do you still doubt me, Saber?" He mutters quietly, his optics void of any thought and emotion. His voice sending chills down her back struts. "I won't hesitate to take everyone from you. I won't hesitate to hurt you. Either you will be mine, or you will watch them all suffer." Saber's optics widen slightly, the tone in his voice convincing her what he means is true. 

Realization fills Saber's optics, this isn't the Slade she remembers. The Slade who had once comforted her, who had made her smile, and made her want to do anything he told her. The Slade who showed so much compassion for everything she spoke of, the Slade who could make her melt with just a smile. That Slade...he's gone. 

And he's never going to come back...