The red haze on the horizon urged Red Alert out of his burrow faster than he would have on his own time. Whatever had been sent would not sit politely and wait for him to collect himself. And safe as his burrow made him feel he would be too easily cornered in it. His glitch sent a bright spark arcing between his horns. No. He could not, would not, be trapped.

Emerging into the grey and drizzling orn that smelled of ozone and distant burning things he turned a slow circle. The large trees still stood but their tendrils moved sluggishly in the breeze like they had been beaten to breaking point by the storm. Smaller limbs were scattered about wrapped in tangles of tendrils. Boulders peaked from the grass darker than the sky and jagged like the lightning strikes. The long grasses had been beaten down by the rain and now had small rivers of muddy water snaking through them. If he had left a trail, which he doubted he did, any trace of it was long gone.

None of it was familiar. None of it even triggered a dream memory. Turning another circle he came back to face the glow on the horizon. There had been several landings, at least twelve. He was not a melee fighter like the Twins or even Prowl. He did better in individual combat, much like Jazz. He didn't have the same small frame, but Gygaxian frames had easily exploited weaknesses. If someone took out his legs the strength of his attacks would be cut by half or if someone managed to hold his horns he would be close to helpless. He would have to draw the fighters far enough away he could pick them off. Turning away from the horizon he started walking up the hill.

He looked up at the sky and sent a silent prayer that Prowl knew something had landed. He would direct Jazz and any other searchers to avoid the area at all costs because he knew Red Alert would do the same. He didn't want to think about Jazz getting cornered by whatever was now lurking on this planet with them. He was just beginning to like the Polyhexian.

oOo

Trees smoldered but didn't catch; the previous deluge and the current drizzle kept the vegetation from igniting. He stumbled and wove his way across the smoking ground. His energon loss had tertiary and secondary systems shutting down. His vision faded in and out and his hands and feet were numb. But Megatron had sent him a force to hunt down Red Alert. He could make them loyal, sway them away from Megatron to him. They would be amazed by how smart he was, how strong. They would see Megatron was nothing. They would fall over themselves to gain his favor. They would die for him. They would keep him safe.

And when he returned he would have a force behind him to destroy the war lord.

As the pods cooled they began to hiss open. Breathing hard he swayed on his feet watching the locks begin to unwind and click and atmosphere vent. "Decepticon warriors," he said, his words slurring a bit, not as clear as they had been in his head. That was irritating. His voice should be strong and clear. An alarm chimed that his energon pressure was reaching the red zone. Primary systems would be shutting down in a few breems unless he got a transfusion.

From the first pod a shadow with red optics lifted its head. It was not a mech but some kind of canine. He blinked. "What?" He shook his head. The energon loss was making him see things. When he blinked again the shadow was no longer in the pod but on the muddy ground slinking through the grass toward him. "What the Pit are you?" he demanded, his words slow and unclear. He blinked twice trying to keep his feet.

Other shadows began pouring out of the pods. Short compact bodies, coal red optics, and stiff tails advanced on him. He took a step back and stumbled. The world spun and when his processor made sense of things again he was looking at sky and not shadows. Pushing himself into a sitting position he found a dozen sets of optics focused unblinking on him. A warm puff of air hit his cheek. A low growl rumbled through the air and the panels along their backs began to rise. He turned his head and the canine peeled its lips back revealing steel grey teeth the size of knives. "I am your leader," he said. "You can't hurt me."

The pack lunged.

oOo

Jazz held his side as he limped through the trees. The ship was secured with a code Red Alert would be able to break but the glitched 'Con wouldn't. He was not getting stranded on this rock with whatever had just landed. He needed to get a bead on Red Alert, fast. The shot to his abdere was deeper than he'd originally thought and it was beginning to sap his strength.

He'd set off in the opposite direction of the glow. Even in top condition he couldn't hope to take on a dozen or more of whoever Megatron had sent. His frame was too small for him to be an effective melee fighter. He could hope the group would split and try to track him and Red Alert. That would make it easier to pick them off one at a time as he preferred. And if they caught up to Red Alert he knew the Gygaxian could hold his own against a small group. Despite his moment of panic at the colony he did know Prowl and Red Alert could take care of themselves. Prowl could wipe the floor with him and probably the Twins as well. And while he'd never seen Red Alert spar, if Prowl said the mech was well trained, well, that was a compliment and a warning. Maybe when this fragged orn was over he could try talking Red Alert into a sparring session.

From the direction of the orange glow he was avoiding a fin raising chorus of wild howls rose up. "Oh…frag me twice," he breathed. Prowl would be thrilled to know that they could now verify the Pit Beasts that Shockwave had roaming around some of his labs could be deployed to the field. The things had almost killed Mirage a few kels ago when he'd gotten cornered against a building. He had no idea how Shockwave controlled the things, or if he did. He could just deploy them and let them maim and kill whatever they wanted, Decepticon or Autobot. That wouldn't make Megatron hesitate.

He knew Red Alert, glitching or sane, wouldn't go anywhere near that sound or the landing site. Clenching his teeth he pushed himself into a run away from the sound as well. Half blind the broken limbs, rocks, and weakly moving tendrils slowed him down. The predacons were made for this kind of terrain and, he realized, so was Red Alert. Looking up at the sky he sent a prayer that Prowl wouldn't get the message he had looping about the imposter and about the landing. He wished he'd known the pods had predacons. If Prowl opted to send assistance, he could be sending soldiers straight to death.

The deranged beasts were not natural predacons, they were as glitched as the imposter but without complicated motivations. All they wanted was to tear things apart. That was one of the reasons Mirage had been so badly injured. He had assumed they were predacons trained—or tortured—into obedience. The mech wasn't much good with people, but he was good with animals. He'd been cornered before he realized they weren't anything natural that could be calmed or scared off.

Red Alert would be running from him and from the rabid beasts. He had to make sure he found Red Alert first. And he had to find him before the skies cleared enough for his message to get through.

oOo

Dodging around trees and over rocks he felt calmer than he had in an eon. He knew something was chasing him. That was enough to make his glitch wind up, but the effortless run through the sometimes densely packed trees was so familiar to what he'd done growing up he felt more normal than he had since his burrow had filled with smoke. The trees' tendrils made things a little complicated since they didn't hesitate to wrap around his horns. He'd gotten hung up half a dozen times before he figured out how quick he needed to dodge the strands.

The frightening howls that had started this mad dash were still echoing in his head but the terror couldn't overwhelm him while his spark was beating hard from the run and not so much from fear. Splashing through mud and leaping up onto a rock before launching himself forward he felt like he might laugh. He had not had a good run through trees since they'd dragged him to the refugee camp out of his mind with fear. Counting his steps he shortened his stride and leapt over a stand of bushes and landed on a hill. The slippery mud and leaves gave out under his heels and with a startled yelp his run turned into an out of control roll.

One of his horns cut a gouge in the mud when he flipped head over heels once before he was spinning and spinning. His back slammed into a tree at the bottom and he lay stunned for several breems as his processor tried to orient which way was up. "Pit," he said, glad he hadn't eaten in…a while. He was feeling a little ill. "I think I did that a few times when I was little, too," he muttered. Groaning he rolled onto his chest and lay still again breathing in the rich scent of mud and damp greenery. Getting his arms under him he pushed himself up groaning again.

Leaning against the tree that had stopped him he checked himself over. Mud caked every inch of him and with it were twigs and leaves and small pebbles. Looking up the hill he snorted and then winced and rubbed his back. There was no mistaking or covering that trail. A swath cleared of leaves and tendrils ran from the top of the hill to where he stood and along it were gouges from his horns. A few bushes had broken limbs. A tree had a new scar on its trunk though he didn't remember his horns hitting it.

Swiping as much of the mud off as he could he started a slow walk gently prodding at places that felt sore to find out if they were just sore or if he'd fractured anything. The world still spun if he moved his head too fast so he kept his optics forward. His audios picked up the sound of a larger body of water somewhere nearby. Looking down at his now mud brown frame he angled in that direction. He liked the smell of wet dirt, but he didn't want it drying on him where it would itch.

Given the gentle nature of the waves he assumed he was looking at a very large lake and not an oceanic inlet or bay or cove. But he couldn't see the other side. The trees backed off just out of the water's reach. But there was evidence they had once gone further. Not far from the shore was a row of thin trees that had become submerged when the water overwhelmed them. Looking up and down the muddy stretch he didn't see any animals but there were a few small prints nearby. Looking up at the grey sky he wondered if the storm was truly over or if they were just caught in the eye. If that was the case he would have to find somewhere else to hide. With as many lightning strikes as he'd seen it wasn't safe to be out wandering around. Maybe lightning would take out his pursuers.

Stepping onto the muddy bank he let the water wash over his toes a few times. It wasn't cold like he expected. All the lakes in Gygax were chilly. This was warm like he'd read the bodies of water were in Polyhex. Wading in up to his knees he didn't go any deeper since the storm had churned up the water and he couldn't see the bottom. He could swim but surprising himself by falling off the edge of the lake bed or surprising some form of native wildlife was not on his agenda. Splashing water across his chest he inspected the plethora of new dings he had acquired. Prowl told him wearing his battle grade armor on the ship was a bit much, but he would argue now if he was going to take off like a glitch he should be wearing the heavy armor at all times.

Crouching down he splashed water over his sore shoulders and swished his horns through the water a few times. A ripple moving in the wrong direction caught his attention. He was already backing toward the shore when the ripple jerked to follow him. Deciding on the better part of valor he turned and ran for shore. Behind him something exploded from the water sending warm water spraying over him. Yelping he dove to the side as a giant mouth snapped closed where he'd been half a second ago. Rolling through the shallow water he scrambled up and ran for the trees, all aches and pains and dings forgotten.

Zigzagging he blew past the tree line and hid behind a thicker trunked tree to see if the thing could leave the water. A head the size of Bumblebee was attached to a long snaky green and brown neck that strained forward to reach the trees. Rising from the water behind it were what he'd assumed to be submerged trees but he saw now with the creature partially out of the water were giant spines. When it realized the meal was lost it snapped open its jaws revealing rows of jagged needle sharp teeth. Two pectoral fins thrashed in the water pushing the massive beast back into deeper water. Further back a thick tail lashed back and forth sending waves crashing to the shore and thoroughly soaking Red Alert.

Once it was back to its hiding place the creature lowered its head beneath the waves and after a few breems the water calmed and if not for the spines sticking out of the water Red Alert might have believed he imagined it. Shaking and holding tight enough to the tree to leave gouges he stared at where he knew the beast was hiding. "If this is what Hound enjoys doing, Ratchet should be scanning him for glitches more than me," he said into the silence.

oOo

Ragged gasps punctuated the dead space between the snarls behind him. He couldn't run forever. Mostly blind he was likely to run face first into a tree. He'd had three close calls already and the pack was gaining every second. The pack had found Jazz too fast. He had been hoping the things would be preoccupied slaughtering a few of the native animals before they turned their noses to his trail. Whatever control Shockwave had over them though kept them from deviating. They were locked on him like thermal missiles. The mass of compact lightning quick shadows leaping through the forest behind him were gaining a length at a time and his stamina was giving out. He needed a place to make a stand, soon, or the rabid creatures would just drag him down. Energon trickled from his abdere leaving a clear bright trail for his pursuers.

The dim shadows under the trees lightened to cloudy grey light. A slope caught him off guard and he stumbled to a knee before whirling around with a knife in hand. The pack didn't slow and the leaders launched at him. Dodging the dark blurs he slashed and drew a second knife as he dropped to a knee to let the second blur sail over him. Digging the knife into a shadow trying to flank him he twisted and ripped up. The shrieking howl battered his sore audios but with his sight compromised he couldn't risk turning them down and missing a cue.

Like the rasping pant behind him. Whirling around he felt his gauntlet dent when the beast clamped down on his arm instead of his neck. Another snatched his calf and began worrying the heavy armor. Normal predacons wouldn't be able to get through the armor, but these creatures were made, not sparked, and the combined force of their unnaturally strong jaws and the insane fury of their attack was beginning to buckle the armor.

Slamming his knife down into the skull of the one on his arm he felt his knife skitter off the hard strut before finding a soft place, probably an optic if the howl of agony was anything to go by. Throwing that one off, he twisted around and sliced at the one on his leg until he found another soft place. A heavy body collided with him. Saved by the high ground he fell to a knee against the incline and pushed himself up as abnormally strong jaws clamped on the juncture between his neck and shoulder. The armor there was thicker but still dented under the initial bite. Another mouth clamped on his already abused leg and another heavy body landed on his back. Pummeling the predacon in the stomach until it was bleeding and winded enough to throw off he threw himself backwards and landed hard on the other one dragging the other two off their feet as well. Teeth broke through his gauntlet and sank into his exoform. Jabbing his knife into where he thought the creature's nose was convinced it to let go and it howled in pain.

The scent of fresh flowing energon spurred the beasts into greater frenzy. Jaws clamped on his neck and the jaws on his leg broke through armor to exoform as well. Another howl went up and the sound of heavy feet stampeding through the grass filtered in through the snarls around him. Stabbing at everything he could reach he thrashed trying to get loose but the jaws around his neck didn't budge. He felt the armor beginning to dent as he was worried like a toy, his world a spinning blur of indistinct colors. There weren't as many predacons on him though. Some of the pack had broken off. The only reason they would do that would be if they caught another scent.

Teeth broke through the armor on his neck with a painful screech.

oOo

The howls were closer and Red Alert searched the dark trees around him with more than a little trepidation. He kept his back to the lake, at least there he had an idea of the threat. The trees stretching in front of him were an unknown. Pacing back and forth he looked up at the cloudy sky. The clouds were beginning to break up a little. They still blanketed the world, but in places he could see where sunlight was beginning to burn through. If the clouds broke up he would have a bit more time to decide what to do. If they didn't, he needed a plan now to survive the night. He had been safe in his burrow during the storm when nothing was out prowling about, but if the water creature was any indication, there were significant predators on this planet and it didn't matter if he was their usual meal or not, they might still try to have a taste. And whatever those discordant howls were, he had a bad feeling in his spark that they were not something natural to this world. They sounded too similar to the shy creatures that had lived on the outskirts of the city. Their songs had been much more enjoyable to listen to late in the night. This…he didn't know what he was hearing but it made his exoform prickle.

Another howl came, much closer than the last one. Whatever they were they were coming at him at a run. Dragging in a deep breath of air he backed up a step closer to the water. He didn't trust even dipping his heels in the water, but nothing could surround him if he was pressed back to the edge. Not without making a noise and not without waking the beast waiting in the deep.

He couldn't do much else but wait and see if the creatures showed themselves or if they diverted to another scent. He was more worried about whoever was looking for him. Holding a defensive position was what he was sparked to do. Mech, animal, or ship, he could hold himself at the water's edge unless overwhelmed by sheer numbers. And even then, he could figure something out. But whoever was looking for him was either yet to encounter those frightening howling creatures…or they already had. He almost risked an open signal ping, but if Decepticons were nearby it would be sparkling play for Soundwave to hone in on his position. If they were as lost looking for him as the Autobots he didn't want to make himself an easy target. But if someone was hurt they would need help. If Decepticons were using the howling creatures for tracking they could be taking prisoners, or making certain no Autobot returned to the ship alive. He shifted his weight back and forth as indecision warred within.

The howls came from almost right on top of him and his optics snapped up to the shadows under the trees. Some of the shadows were moving though. The boiled out of the trees like toxic smoke, flashing red optics wild and without thought and jaws gaping. Lowering his horns Red Alert snorted a hot gust of air. They were similar in appearance to the predacons that had lived near his city, but that was the only similarity he saw. Those creatures had been shy of Cybertronians and hunted with skill and strategy. These creatures didn't wait to size him up, they charged without any preparation.

Lunging forward he met the leading predacon and dipped his head a fraction more to catch the beast in the chest and catch it on the sharp tips of his horns. The beast was heavier than it should have been and what he expected so instead of tossing it over his shoulders he had to shrug it off to the side so he wouldn't fall over. Teeth clamped on his leg cutting through the light armor like it didn't exist. Whirling around he headbutted another one leaping for him and brought his free foot up and around to stomp on the beast's spine. The creature released but despite three of their number being injured they didn't retreat. The continued their attack, heedless of danger, mindless of injury.

Dropping to all fours he headbutted another one sending it tumbling end over end along the water's edge. Another tried to jump on his back and he caught it with his horn, prepared now for the weight, and tossed it into the water. Sharp teeth broke through the armor on his thigh and he rolled into the water sending the predacon tumbling with him. He was much deeper in the water than he wanted to be. He could see the native predator's spines shudder as the splashing alerted it to a possible meal. Pulling both legs back he crushed the predacon's ribs with a powerful kick that sent it thrashing into deeper water. Rolling back to shore another beast jumped on him and clamped down on his shoulder.

The native predator's massive head lifted and came down on the predacon he had gored and dragged it under the murky water. Water sloshed on the shore and sprayed the trees and him. Digging his blunt claws into the creature's snout he clawed back until his claws hooked in the creature's optics. Getting a firm hold on its neck he flipped it forward straight into another beast lunging at his legs. The two crashed to the muddy bank together. Not giving them time to gain their feet he lunged forward and caught one with a skull shattering headbut and twisted his head to gore the other in the neck. Flinging his head back he tossed it into the water behind him.

Heaving he stared down the four new shadows charging out of the trees for him. Snorting, he lowered his head again.

oOo

Blaster bared his teeth and growled in a manner very similar to Steeljaw as he glowered at the communications console. "Blaster," Optimus said. "You will get through to them. Hound and Jazz are not new recruits, they can withstand whatever has landed." Squeezing his temples between his palms he took two deep breaths before nodding. The young mech didn't get overwhelmed often but it was a rare thing he couldn't find a way to reestablish communications. There was no block Soundwave could make that Blaster couldn't circumvent. But nature itself had found a way to thwart him and he wasn't handling the challenge very well.

The wait was painful for Optimus as well but he distracted himself for two breems by making a note of training Blaster a bit more on stress management during high stress situations. Prowl would be a good one to help with that.

Prime, Ratchet's voice snapped through his flimsy distraction. Prowl is sedated until further notice. Security just found Hound unconscious in a closet. Optimus put a hand on Blaster's shoulder out of instinct. The young mech's optics washed out to almost white and his breathing hitched. Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze he said, "Jazz is all right." He left no room for any of his doubts or fears to slip into those words. Blaster looked up looking ages younger and all the more terrified for it. "Jazz is all right," Optimus said in a softer voice.

Switching to Ratchet he asked, What is Hound's status?

He's got a bad head wound that's kept him from rebooting, energon loss, and dehydration. I won't know long term effects until we get this head wound sorted. I'm going into surgery now. Hoist and Grapple can handle anything that comes in until First Aid and I are finished.

"I still can't get through," Blaster whispered. "He needs help and I can't get him." His fingers settled hesitantly on the console and then drew back to his lap. Until the charge from the storm lifted there was nothing he could do.

But they weren't helpless.

Opening another comm. link he said, Mirage, Bumblebee, prepare for departure. Jazz was the best. But he was outgunned and outnumbered and possibly didn't know the mech he was trusting to watch his back was looking for an opportunity to put a round through him.

oOo

Jazz struggled to follow the faint glowing trail of energon one of the injured predacons had left. His left leg dragged a little with each step and his neck was still oozing energon. He was hoping he wasn't wandering in circles and following his own trail of energon. He was pretty sure he hadn't passed a boulder before. Shock was wearing on his systems though and he would be the first to admit he couldn't recall what had happened even two breems before.

From the trees in front of him he heard an agonized howl he had become familiar with during his fight. "Red," he gasped. His body felt like it was on fire but he pushed it into a slow jog that was faster than the painful walk he'd been at.

He tripped into a few trees and had their strange tendrils wrap around his arms a few times as he pushed them out of his way. Snarls and growls became louder; he didn't hear Red Alert but Gygaxians didn't really announce their battles. They just squared up and hit each other, no need for showing off. He smelled water, not just the fresh crisp scent of rain, but a richer and older scent that belonged to a large body of water. If Red Alert was near the water he could do some damage if they could draw the predacons to deeper water. As heavy as they were there was a chance they couldn't swim. At the very least they couldn't stay submerged as long as he could. He made out the shape of a bush and skirted around it before he realized the ground behind the bush wasn't flat but a hill.

His world spun and erupted into bright spots of pain as his battered body cartwheeled and tumbled down the hill until he slammed into a tree with his back. None of the predacons came to maul him while he tried to get his bearings and figure out if he was still alive. They howled and snapped and snarled but underlying all those sounds was the painful thud of a hard head slamming into bodies. Then there was sweet, sweet water splashing over him as something big either went in or came out of the water.

Rolling to his side he squinted at the blurs of color. The water was easy to identify, the shadows were hard to count with as fast as they moved but standing in the middle of the shadows was a splash of grey and red armor and far too much energon blue. The grey figure lunged forward and one of the spinning shadows shot into the water where it thrashed to its feet. From deeper in the lake a massive dark green and brown shadow reared up and came down on it. "Well frag me," Jazz swore.

Pushing himself to his feet he unsheathed his remaining knife. He had no idea when he'd lost the other one. There were maybe three of the predacons left and Red Alert's breaths were coming in heavy pants. Gygaxians didn't really have battle stamina; usually battles were decided in a few hits. They were absolute power houses for short periods of time but once they started to tire they ran down fast. Jazz snagged one shadow as it lunged at Red Alert and stabbed it where he thought the head was until the rabid thing turned on him with a vicious snarl.

oOo

Exhaustion plagued him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten and while he'd recharged well he wasn't meant for protracted battle. Wounds bleeding freely he squared up with the remaining beasts as they snarled and lunged at him, at last beginning to take some care with their attacks now that four of them lay dead fouling up the lake and shredded by the native predator. Luckily, the native creature wasn't overly intelligent and could be relied upon to chomp down on the predacons when they were thrown close enough despite having learned twice that they were not to its liking.

He lunged forward and brought his head down on one of the beasts that jumped too close. Its too hard bones snapped under the force and it fell to the sand, paws twitching erratically for a few seconds before it stilled. They were sturdier than the creatures he'd grown up listening to, but the only two things that could withstand a full assault from him was another Gygaxian or a sturdy rock. These beasts were neither of those things.

Movement in his peripheral and he whirled around bringing his horns to bear, ready to gore whatever was coming for him. He faltered when he recognized the badly battered and bleeding Polyhexian that currently had a predacon by the tail. A few vicious stabs and the beast left off Red Alert in favor of attacking Jazz.

"Jazz?" he said, not quite believing it. A heavy body on his back and sharp teeth tearing into his shoulder again brought his scattered mind back into focus. Grabbing the creature by the neck he dropped and rolled into the water to throw it off. It released but didn't fall far from him. Rolling to its feet it lunged at his face. Lowering his horns its powerful jaws clamped down on them instead of his neck or face. Lifting his head as much as he could he kept to all fours and charged forward bowling creature over backwards. Spinning around he kicked it hard, snapping a strut and sending it crashing into the native predator that had once again risen.

Dragging himself out of the water he staggered next to Jazz and surveyed the damage. Bodies lay scattered in the water and on the muddy bank. The bank was gouged and stained with energon. Nearby trees and bushes were thoroughly soaked and were hit again with another onslaught of water as the native predator backed into the water with an angry raspy hiss. But none of the predacons rose. "Jazz," Red Alert said again, catching the Polyhexian when he swayed.

Dim grey light filtered from his optics, the side of his head a charred mess and his body littered with bleeding bites. "Hey'a, Red. I'm here ta' rescue ya'." He laughed and slowly dropped to his knees breathing hard.

Red Alert's whole body felt sparkling weak but night was falling and he didn't want to be on the lakeshore when Primus knew what might come during the night to get a drink. Getting his arms under Jazz's smaller frame he staggered to his feet and started walking toward the trees. "If you can remember in which direction the ship is, I will consider myself saved."

Jazz's laugh was weak and raspy but that cocky smile that so often graced him was firmly on his face. "There's an energon trail up by a bush, follow that back to where those slaggers cornered me and its due east from there."

Digging his feet into the damp soil he started up the hill following the smears of energon on the hill where it seemed their ever graceful saboteur had fallen head over heels down the hill the same as Red Alert. "I don't recall any of those beasts carrying blasters, how did you get these plasburns?" Jazz seemed to blink but it was hard to tell with how dim his visor was. "Is your visor malfunctioning?" He asked softly. "I might be able to fix it, at least enough for you to see again."

Jazz laughed again. "It's more'n the visor. Whole processor is fragged up. Pretty sure short wave comms. are scorched, most of the optical relays are gone. Found the imposter though," he said, voice drifting a little. He took a deep breath and his body shuddered whether in pain or in an effort to keep himself from medical recharge was hard to tell. "Thought it was Hound, fragged thing shot me in the back and got me in the head. Knocked me into reboot for…Pit, I dunno how long. 'Bout bled out before I got the glitch down." Red Alert held him a little closer for a second, careful of his wounds as he crested the hill. The energon only lit the trail, Jazz's stumbling path was clear.

"It's dead then?" Red Alert asked with a trace of trepidation. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, terrified of assassins or of his glitch getting the better of him like it had this time. Prowl had to be out of his mind with worry.

Jazz's body shuddered again and then relaxed entirely in Red Alert's arms the faint glow from his visor winking out. Shifting him enough the Polyhexian's head was resting on his shoulder he pushed thoughts of the imposter out of his mind. "I thought you were supposed to be a conversationalist," he murmured to the unconscious mech in his arms.

oOo

"All right 'Bee," Mirage said as he crouched down next to the scout who had found Jazz's light prints in the grass. "We don't know if he had a bead on Red Alert, though." They'd cracked into the ship, though it had taken every bit of Mirage's skill to do it and the scene had not been encouraging. The scorched console and far too much energon smeared across the floor and a med kit scattered near the door. And they had only found the one set of prints leaving the ship. They weren't big enough for Hound, or anyone masquerading as Hound, so he took spark from that. Jazz's message about the landing pods and finding the imposter were only slightly more encouraging. Their TIC had left the ship alive and of his own volition if the lock on the door was any indicator. But there was so much energon on the floor.

"We need to find the imposter," Mirage said staring at the faint, faint print crushed into the grass. Jazz was hurt. If he hadn't been there wouldn't be prints to follow. He was limping on one side which was why the print was there. Bumblebee made a soft whirring sound and looked at him with worried optics. "We can't trust anyone we meet until we know the imposter has been either detained or destroyed. They won't trust us easily either." Because he had to believe that Jazz had found Red Alert before the imposter. Jazz and Red Alert had to be alive.

Standing up he looked in the direction of the scorched land they had seen as they came in for a landing. "The 'Con will have gone to reinforcements if it was injured. We'll start at the landing site and see if we pick up a trail on any of them." He glanced at that small ghost-like imprint in the grass and then turned away and started walking in the direction of the pod landing site.

oOo

Red Alert staggered into the clearing and found two ships. Both had Autobot serial numbers so he didn't question it much further than that. Jazz's small frame had become heavier and heavier with each step and the cloudy day had become a partially cloudy night and it was getting colder with every breem. It wouldn't freeze given the amount of vegetation but Jazz was susceptible to cold, moreso when he was injured.

Walking to the closer of the two ships he punched in his security override instead of bothering to figure out the normal lockout code. The door slid open revealing a silent dark interior. Quiet and dark, that's what he needed right now. His head was beginning to buzz but his spark wasn't hammering against his chest from anything more than the exertion of carrying Jazz.

Jazz needed medical aid more than Red Alert needed a safe and quiet few breems. He hadn't come even close to waking during the long trek. His spark was stable but not as strong as it should be. Most of the wounds had stopped bleeding but he had to be low on energon. Red Alert was and he'd only had one fight, Jazz had fought the imposter and then the predacons. His mind skirted around the topic of the imposter. He would worry about it later when Jazz was on his way to being awake and coherent.

Setting Jazz on the floor he flicked on the lights and went to the back to find the med kit. He found an emergency lantern and turned that on shutting off the bright overhead lights. In the soft gold light he set up a small transfusion, not enough to wake Jazz, but enough to keep his shocky systems from crashing. Tearing into a packet of concentrate for himself he rested for a breem before he set to work cleaning mud and organic matter from Jazz wounds. It was odd seeing Jazz so still. Even when the mech was sitting in meetings there was vibrancy to him as if the air around him was in motion. He reached for Jazz's visor and hesitated. He had seen Jazz without his visor before, but he wasn't certain how light sensitive the saboteur was. From the damage he could see in the lamp light he didn't think there was anything there he could fix. Leaving the visor in place he moved his hands to Jazz's shoulders.

Gently collapsing his armor and setting the bars to the side he used a few canisters of water packed in the emergency rations to dilute the antiseptic. He couldn't remember where, but he'd read most common antiseptics dried out Polyhexian exoforms. Jazz was already going to feel like he'd taken a trip through the Pit when he woke, he didn't want to add dehydration to the pain. The water also helped to loosed the dried energon gluing Jazz's armor to his exoform. The predacons hadn't gotten through his heavy armor as easily as they had Red Alert's, but the slashes still looked painful.

Jazz sighed as more of the wounds came clean and tilted his head to the other side. Not pretty, but…yes, Red Alert would say he was handsome. Burned, bitten, shot, and unconscious there was something about him that compelled. So many secrets wrapped up in one spark. Jazz hadn't given him any more clues about what he'd done before getting smuggled over the border and joining the Autobots. Curiosity nagged at him. Jazz was not a mech to go where the winds blew him, but one to make his own way no matter what. It could not have been easy.

A burn on the inside of Jazz's forearm caught his attention as he dabbed at the bites. A burn scarred over with what looked like claw marks. Given his occupation multiple injuries to the same place weren't surprising, but it didn't look like a burn from a plasgun. Those he had plenty of himself. This looked almost like a brand. He stroked his fingers over the ridged scar tissue. Had someone branded Jazz? "I wish I knew you," he murmured in the quiet ship. He stroked his thumb over the burn once more and continued cleaning his wounds.

oOo

"I do love waking up next to handsome mechs," a husky voice murmured near his audio. Red Alert woke up with a quick inhale and then relaxed when he recognized the voice. At some point after wiping down his own wounds as much as he could be bothered with he'd curled up around Jazz. He snorted but he would admit it was nice have a warm frame next to him. He hadn't had any nightmares. He'd actually recharged through the night instead of waking in the middle as he'd always done. Jazz made a pained sound when he tried to stretch his legs. "Primus, feel like I got hit by a warship."

"You don't look much better," Red Alert deadpanned. He felt Jazz smile against his shoulder and a short laugh shook his chest. Red Alert let his optics close again. It was really nice having him there next to him. He felt safe, like he had when he'd woken up initially on this planet. He was still worried about Prowl, but he didn't feel the stress winding him up so tight it was hard to breathe.

Jazz shivered a little and pressed closer to him. Red Alert's optics opened again and he frowned a little. Before he could ask if Jazz was still cold the Polyhexian smiled and said, "If I was feelin' better I'd seduce you an' make you eat those words." A smile played on his lips and Red Alert felt an answering expression on his face.

"You assume you could seduce me," Red Alert said, playing along because he kind of liked this teasing. It was gentle teasing, like what Prowl did, not the cutting names and remarks others used. This felt like something Jazz would do with any other mech. This…felt normal. And he liked it.

Jazz's visor glowed dimly as he opened his optics, one optic ridge cocked. "You insult my devilishly handsome features and now you doubt my seduction skills. No mercy for an injured mech's ego is there?" His arm slid across Red Alert's abdere as he found another comfortable position.

"Devilishly handsome?" Red Alert mused. "I think Prowl and I agreed you are handsome, but not devilishly so. I'll have to ask him again." But he thought that adjective might fit better. He was the classical Iaconian handsome like Mirage, as Prowl said, there were too many shadows and nightmares clinging to Jazz. He was too rough, too sharp to be classically handsome. But devilishly? That was doable. A smile that invited others to smile with him, that could convince even Prowl to set aside his work for a joor to go to the firing range.

Jazz perked up again. "Wait? You two talk about me? You think I'm handsome?" There was genuine curiosity in his voice and Red Alert shrugged his shoulder and then winced when the bite wounds stretched. He should've taken more time to look over his own wounds, but he'd been almost in recharge after cleansing the worst offenders. Whoever had brought the ship down would return within the orn to report back and then they could all get off this Pit forsaken mudball and place themselves under Ratchet's tender care.

"We talk about you quite often, actually," he said thinking over their usual topics. Jazz always came up at least once, usually two or three times depending on how much of a processor ache Prowl had. "Usually with our combined processing power we can figure out about fifty percent of what you say." Jazz's laugh was stronger than his last and a bright smile lit his face despite his injuries.

Then a second later his brow furrowed. "Am I naked?" The hand resting on Red Alert's abdere reached down to brush the bare exoform of his hip to verify that he was indeed missing his armor. His hand returned to curl against Red Alert's abdere a second later. "Well, this is embarrassing. Usually I remember falling into recharge naked."

Red Alert laughed. "I cleaned your wounds last night. Your armor is caked in organic matter, probably from your graceful tumble down the hill." He thought about adding that he'd done the same thing and then decided the saboteur didn't need that information.

"You can't prove anything," Jazz deadpanned lifting his arm to poke him in the chest. Red Alert smiled again and reached up to touch the ridged scar on Jazz's forearm.

"Was this a brand?"

Jazz didn't pull his arm away but the smile on his face lost its humor and took on more of an edge. "Thorough with your cleaning weren't you," he murmured. Red Alert didn't miss that he didn't answer the question, but he was patient. Red Alert curled around him when he shivered again. Secrets or not, it still felt good to have a warm frame against his. Jazz's fingers reached up and stroked the scar near his optic. He knew Jazz couldn't see much. The only way for him to unerringly touch that spot would be if he had memorized his face. "What's this from?"

His fingers were rough from handling weapons and stroked down his cheek to another scar just under his jaw. Red Alert didn't pull away. "Do you memorize everyone's face or just mine?" he murmured.

Jazz froze and blinked. "Gave myself away on that, didn't I? Must've lost more energon than I thought," he said with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. Red Alert wasn't appeased. Why had Jazz memorized his face? He assumed assassins only did that to mechs they intended to kill, but Jazz wouldn't hurt him. He was certain that no matter how much the mech vexed him, he wouldn't hurt him. "Mostly just yours," he answered softly after a moment. His fingers still lingered on Red Alert's neck. His spark was close enough Red Alert could faintly feel the energy pulse against his.

"Why?" Red Alert whispered; old frustration mingling with new. "I can't tell if you think I'm a spy or if the Prime has ordered you to watch me for some reason. Why? Why do you follow me, watch me work, why did you memorize my face?"

Jazz was quiet, his visor still dimly glowing so he hadn't lapsed back into unconsciousness. "I dunno mech," he said softly painfully pushing himself up enough he could look down at Red Alert. "Why do people hang art on their walls? 'Cause it makes them happy an' they like to look at it."

Red Alert blinked. "What? That doesn't answer—" Soft lips pressed against his for a brief second, so fast he might have thought he imagined it. His processor stalled, all thoughts shorting out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been kissed. He knew it had happened before because he knew that was what had just happened, but his processor couldn't wrap around that truth.

"I promise I'll try not to bother you as much," Jazz murmured, still so close to him. "But I can't promise I'll stay away."

Jazz had just kissed him. He had expected many things from the conversation; a kiss was not one of them. And…well, it had been a nice kiss. He supposed. If it could be counted as a kiss. It hadn't lasted more than a blink. Did it count as a kiss if it was that short? What would it be called then?

"You kissed me, I think," he said, thoughts scattered to the winds. Jazz was quiet for a second and then that warm frame he'd decided he liked having against him was pulling away. His processor kicked back into gear and he caught Jazz before he could get more than a hand span from him. "Don't go," he said softly. "It's nice, having someone next to me. I didn't have any nightmares last night." Jazz relaxed against him once more but didn't speak.

He stayed quiet while Red Alert's mind spun circles. He had felt lips against his, Jazz had kissed him. Sort of. Well, he had kissed him, but it was so quick. Sometimes Prowl pressed a quick kiss to his cheek when he woke up achy and cranky. Was it a kiss like that? But if it was wouldn't Jazz had just kissed his cheek, he had his face memorized after all. He couldn't have mistook his lips for his cheek. And then he'd tried to get up. Red Alert had no idea where the mech thought he was going. Between his wounds and the energon loss he would've been on the floor before he could reach a sitting position. He couldn't exactly run away from that kiss—almost kiss—maybe it was a kiss? If it wasn't a kiss he didn't know what to call, a lip check? Maybe he forgot where his lips were and he was making sure they were still there? That didn't make any sense either.

Turning his head to look at Jazz who was staring in the direction of the far wall he bit back a frustrated sound. The mech looked more beaten than he had after taking on a pack of predacons. That was strange. Maybe he was upset he didn't do a better kiss? Red Alert would be a little irritated if that was the only kiss he could manage. How would anyone know how he felt about them? It had been quick enough to be friendly, but he'd kissed him on the lips. Friends didn't kiss each other on the lips. This was very confusing and his head was starting to hurt.

"Jazz," he said, ready to settle this once and for all. The Polyhexian turned to him but his face was blank, expressionless. It was a little creepy given how animated he had been before the maybe-almost-kiss. Red Alert leaned forward and pressed his mouth against Jazz's sliding a hand up the side of his neck. Jazz made a surprised sound against his lips but didn't push him away and after a second pulled Red Alert's head closer. Red Alert broke the kiss with Jazz's breaths unsteady against his lips. "There," he murmured. "If you're going to kiss someone do it right. It's just confusing when you do things halfway."

oOo

A/N: That's a wrap!

Happy belated Christmas and early New Years! I hope you all got to see your OTP kiss under the mistletoe, and if you didn't, there's always midnight January 31st!

Thank you for a year full of great reviews, DMs, art, favorites, and follows. And, as always, thank you for reading. Stay safe and have fun and I'll be back in the new year with a brand new story!