Okay, this whole ENTIRE story (title and all) is thanks to my best friend. She made me watch The Mist the other day and it made me all angsty so this story was bound to come. She also, during a bout of mutual insanity, came up with the title of "Slit my Titanium Wrists" for a humor songfic done to Linkin Park and the idea had us cracking up for about...three hours. We are very sad, sad people. :D But since the "humor" side of that didn't exactly fit the idea for this story, I shortened it. Heh.

But, on that note, I blame this completely on her. So...ah, enjoy?

:'Jack… 'Jack…'Jack—!:

Wheeljack paused in his targeting of his canon as his mate's voice came over their bond :Bluestreak, what's wrong?:

:'Jack, please, help—:

:Blue? Blue!: Wheeljack roared as he let his missiles go, not brothering to check to see if they had impacted his chosen group of cons as he surveyed the battle around him, looking for his grey lover.

:Blue, you've gotta help me, you've gotta tell me where ya are: Wheeljack sent over the bond after he couldn't immediately find hid lover amidst the battling fractions surrounding him. Slipping and sliding down the uneven slope he had situated himself on to gain a better targeting vantage point, Wheeljack hurriedly continued his search.

A sudden, thick, pulsing knife of heated agony shorted through his circuits and Wheeljack gasped out in pain, falling to his knees in exquisite anguish and he threw his hands to his head, clawing at the material as if that would somehow make it stop. Suddenly, his wish was granted and the mental torture ended abruptly, leaving the engineer gasping air through his vents, bent in half over his sprawled knees.

:Blue? Oh Primus, Blue?!: Wheeljack asked frantically through the bond, not reassured in the least when his inquires sprung back at him, rebounding off from the effective mental block the gunner had used to cut off the pathway.

"Blueblueblueblueblue…" Wheeljack spoke the mantra out loud as he struggled to his feet, launching himself past the still battling warriors and ducking out of the way of plasma fire that came at him from every which way.

Jack shuttered awake, his CPU spiraling from his abrupt change from recharge to wakefulness. The source of his hasty awakening was made obvious to him a second later as a hand smacked him across the face as the still recharging gunner next to him let out a small whisper of despair, his back arching away from the birth.

"Blue?" Wheeljack called softly. At the sound of his voice, however, the grey bot gave a shout and shuddered, flinging himself from the engineer and against the wall that their berth was pressed against, his cries growing louder as his shakes increased.

"Blue!" 'Jack exclaimed, reaching for the gunner again, attempting to wake him from his obvious nightmare.

"—'Jack!" Bluestreak screamed the engineer's name before his optics rapidly onlined, his systems following suit and with another whimper of misery he threw himself into his lover's embrace.

"Shhhh…Don't worry Blue, I'm here." Wheeljack said softly, wrapping his arms around the gunner and rocking him slightly.

As Wheeljack crested another hill of sand, his steps wobbly from the ghost of pain and his spark's thundering sorrow, the sight before him threatened to snap through his precarious control and bring him down for the count.

Bluestreak, held aloft by a tightening hand around his delicate throat, lay limp and unmoving as Megatron continued to draw his hand around the gunner's right doorwing down, and even from his vantage point three hills over Wheeljack could see the energon line's ripping and rupturing as the delicate appendage was slowly and tortuously torn from the mech's back.

"BLUESTREAK!" Wheeljack screamed and he all but launched himself from his spot, hitting the ground feet first and running, pushing past Autobot and Decepticon alike, desperately trying to make his way towards and somehow stop the sight that continued to play restlessly through his processors, egging him into even faster speeds as he slipped through the sands.

A white arm came out of no where to grab him by the shoulders and Wheeljack was pulled out of his frantic dash and clasped against a familiar chassis, "'Jack, buddy, slow down, I need you to help me get around to the flank—"

"Ratchet!" Wheeljack interrupted, flailing out of the medic's grip and completely ignoring his request, tugging on the arm that had previously held him as he attempted to drag the medic the last few steps, "Ratchet, you need to help—it's Bluestreak and he needs treatment and I need to get to him."

After a few breems Bluestreak had finally calmed down enough that he only let out the occasional sob. 'Jack tightened his hold on the younger mech, his spark pulsing with grief for his mate's nightmares of long ago memories, "It's okay Blue, I've got ya."

"'Jack…" the gunner whimpered into the engineer's chest, his arms and wings vibrating in emotional intensity, the slightly swooping appendages behind him making a soft clucking noise as they lightly batted against the flat of the berth.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Wheeljack asked softly, leaning his head down enough to brush a kiss against his lover's forehead, his mask long ago retracted into his mandible plating, leaving his mouth uncovered.

Bluestreak shook his head in a vehement negative.

Wheeljack gusted out a sigh through his vents, "Are you sure? It might help."

"I don't want to…" Bluestreak said softly, his entire frame still quivering.

"Well," Wheeljack said, tightening his embrace, "Then we won't. Is there anything I can do for you, though?"

"Promise—" Bluestreak said quickly, though he cut himself off before finishing his thought, digging his head sharply into the engineer's chest and 'Jack felt the beginnings of embarrassment spread over the bond, the first feeling he'd gotten from his young lover since he had blocked the engineer from his thoughts in a subconscious attempt to protect him from his frequent nightmares.

"Promise what, Blue?"

"Promise that…that you'll always be there?"

"Whoa, 'Jack. What do you mean?" Ratchet said, digging his feet in and placing a steadying hand on the engineer's shoulder, creasing his eye ridge in worry as he could feel his friend's whole frame vibrating with anxiety and surprised emotion.

Wheeljack made a small frustrated noise as the medic refused to move, "No time, no time, no time."

When his next tug refused to dislodge the medic any further, 'Jack dropped the clasped hand with another aggravated noise and continued to race past the stationary bot and over the last hill between him and his destination.

"'Jack!" Ratchet yelled at the retreating figure, scrambling to keep pace. Reaching the top of the hill, the ambulance took one look at the captive Bluestreak and the all but flying Wheeljack and put two and two together. Turning and desperately seeking out red and blue, Ratchet screamed out as he found the bot he had been looking for, "Optimus!"

The leader finished with his own captive con, striking him in the face with a closed fist and as the motionless body collapsed to the ground he turned towards the sound of his name. Catching his optics, Ratchet frantically pointed at Megatron and Optimus didn't waste another second before launching himself at the bigger bot.

"Megatron!" Roaring, Optimus tackled the bot and Bluestreak fell limply to the ground as he was viciously released from the grip, Wheeljack arriving just in time to drop to his knees and catch him before he hit the ground and to witness as the last of his wing gave out and was completely torn from the gunner's body.

"Blue, please wake up. Oh Primus, pleasepleaseplease just wake up." Wheeljack sobbed as he curled around the motionless figure, clutching him tightly to his chest. The energon from the wound on the gunner's back was flowing freely, drenching both bots and staining them in an ethereal glow.

Ratchet arrived next to them a second later, "'Jack, you need to let go of him. I can't treat him like that."

Wheeljack shook his head in denial, a harsh squeak of protest barely making it past the block in his intakes as he clutched the unmoving bot closer to himself. Ratchet's look softened and he laid another hand on the engineer's shoulder, "Come on 'Jack…he'll be fine. I just need to take a look at him."

Shuddering, Wheeljack nevertheless unwound himself from the gunner and laid him gently on the ground, allowing Ratchet to hastily begin patching up the leaks in his gapping shoulder wound. Wheeljack just collapsed against himself, his gaze never leaving the offlined optics of his mate and he tried not to notice when Ratchet cursed as the energon lines in the gunner's shoulders refused to stay sealed, "We need to get him back to the Ark. I can't fix this here," Reaching towards his comm. line, Ratchet sent a quick message to Skyfire that he needed him for an emergency evacuation.

The shuttle sent back an affirmative and his ETA before closing the line.

"Retreat!" the roar came unexpectedly and yet even still Wheeljack couldn't find it within himself to offer more than a weak jump of surprise at Megatron's order, still focused on his lover and the snarling medic.

"Ratchet…he'll be alright, won't he?" the engineer asked softly.

"Course he will, 'Jack." Ratchet said, even while his fingers that worked frantically and hurriedly to close seeping energon lines put the lie to his words.

Engine noises from above announced Skyfire's arrival and Ratchet spent another moment to pat Wheeljack on the back before rushing to load himself and his patient into the bot's cargo hold, the carrier plane lifting off the moment his doors were closed and blasting off in the direction of the Ark.

Leaving Wheeljack to stare helplessly at the trail of their departure, the echoing memory rumbling painfully throughout his CPU.

"I know it's silly, but…promise me, 'Jack? Please?"

"I…of course, Blue. I promise…"

Ah...to be continued? Maybe? And this story is un-beta-d, so feel free to correct.