#and echo

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The titan watched him for a moment, eyes finally settling to red. Jeopardy prayed to whatever high power there was that maybe she would collapse, maybe she would see him and rationalize he wasn’t worth the time. To his horror she started moving, still staggering as she approached, breath heavy as she glowered down at him. Her searchlights kept him pinned, the lights working as some unseen force to keep him from scrambling away.

Sunrazor loomed over the fallen medic, only a few steps from him now, eyes trained on his cowering form. Her expression was neutral, her eyes intense. Jeopardy looked her over, he could see the damage done to her from the fall. She was avoiding pressure on one leg, her movements were stiff. It was impossible to tell with all of the Energon coating her, but some had to be hers.

It gave the white mech an idea, a stupid reckless one.

Jeopardy pushed himself back more, finally able to move when he could feel the ground quiver slightly with each heavy step she took. He lifted his hands in surrender, voice desperate and broken, “W-wait! I… I can help you! Please- Please don’t… I can- I’m a medic! You're hurt! I can help! Please!”

For some reason beyond the cowering and pleading medic, her approach halted. She stood just close enough that she could reach out and grab him. She remained silent for a moment, her eyes starting to flicker between colors again. Heat washed off of her, Jeopardy could feel it choke him. He watched for any reaction, anything that would betray her thoughts other than her blank flicking eyes.

Eventually her eyes stopped on a light blue, her expression not shifting as she squatted down to look at him closer, leaning in. Her eyes narrowed as she examined him. Jeopardy felt his breath hitch again, engine stalling as she looked him over. He squinted his eyes, looking away from her blinding lights. He was going to die. She was going to kill him.

“You're a Decepticon medic?” Her voice was low and demanding, almost skeptical.

Jeopardy jumped when she spoke, flinching away. He sucked in a desperate gasp of air, though confusion joined his terror. Why was she asking him—the pain in his shoulder reminded him. He looked briefly at the destroyed plating where his insignia was usually found. The shrapnel had destroyed the thick metal, leaving deep gashes where the small red symbol had once sat. His eyes widened, voice still choked as he nodded frantically, “Yeah-Yes! Yes I am!”

Sunrazor’s gaze wandered over him before she shook her head, eyes flicking to red again. Jeopardy could have sworn something like disgust crossed her expression as she pulled away. She pushed herself to stand again. Eyes flickering to white, then red.

The titan looked around the dark cavern, searchlights scanning the area. Her jaw tightened for a fraction of a second, as if something about this was deeply unsatisfying. Her tone almost seemed disappointed, “Right.”

The medic was finally able to breathe again when the lights finally moved from him. He watched her as she dismissed him. Jeopardy could hardly believe that worked. His mind almost felt numb, relief hitting him like a freight train. She wasn’t going to kill him. Not yet at least. Jeopardy wasn’t in the clear yet.

The large golden mech looked back down at him, nose wrinkling as she eyed him again. Her voice was commanding and irritated, she growled, “Get off the ground, you're of no use to me there.”

Almost immediately, Jeopardy scrambled obediently to his feet. He let out a small cry when he placed weight on his injured foot. He cut himself off quickly with a grimace. He nearly fell again but caught himself, leaning on what he had previously backed into for support. He looked up at the towering mech, fear rising in him. He hadn’t meant to cry out. Now she knew he was useless and she would kill him.

Instead her gaze narrowed, eyes looking down at his foot. Her eyes flicked between colors again, first to blue, then between white and red. They settled on white this time. Sunrazor’s gaze flicked back up to meet his eyes again, unamused. She scoffed lightly, “Primus, you're pathetic.”

Jeopardy didn’t disagree. She was right. A pathetic excuse of an Autobot. He hadn’t even thought twice about offering help to the monster that had hurt—tormented, killed—so many of his friends. He didn’t even hesitate to proclaim himself a Decepticon just to save himself. He was a terrible, disgusting mech. He shrunk under the weight of her gaze. It was no wonder Dropmix didn’t want him around.

Sunrazor rolled her eyes and then looked away dismissively. Her lights illuminate the otherwise dark landscape, she remained quiet for a moment. Her lights fell on a dark tunnel to the side. Her voice was calculated and sharp as she spoke, “I have better things to do than babysit a medic in a pit so don’t expect me to stop if you fall behind.”

She didn’t give him any other warning as she started walking towards the tunnel. Jeopardy stared blankly as she walked off, her steps slowly becoming more sure and confident. True to her word, she didn’t look back when he didn’t immediately start following. Sunrazor had gotten halfway to the tunnel before Jeopardy managed to move. Wincing as he scrambled to limp behind her.

He only got a few feet before he crashed to the ground with a pained cry. Jeopardy’s breath hitched as he looked down at his ankle, he was just going to make things worse by walking on it. He was going to be left alone again if he didn’t though. Somehow, the idea of following behind the crazed Decepticon didn’t seem as bad as the alternative. It wasn’t like anyone else was going to come help him. This was his only chance to get out of the cavern.

But he wasn’t able to keep up.

Sunrazor did stop at the cry, quickly turned and scanned the surrounding area for enemies hidden in the darkness. When she found none, her lights once again landed on Jeopardy. He felt himself shrink beneath her gaze, the lights burning into him and making him whine. It was getting harder to breathe again, his chest heaving as he was forced to accept reality. She was going to kill him or she would leave him to die.

He waited.

No blow came, but she didn’t move either. She stood still, eyes flickering between colors. Occasionally they would settle long enough that she would start to move again, only to freeze as they began to flicker again. They searched. Jeopardy could feel the weight of her stare—not as a weapon, not as a predator staring down prey, but as something else. Something calculating

The golden mech frowned as she examined the medic, her eyes finally flaring blue. She tilted her head slightly. Her voice was neutral, Jeopardy could have sworn there were remnants of an accent, “You’re not a Decepticon.”

Jeopardy’s eyes widened as his breath hitched. He couldn’t bring himself to respond, he remained on the ground, cowering, struggling to get his vents to work properly.

That was all she needed.

Within moments she had crossed the distance between them until she stood over him. Her gaze flicked again, going between red and white for just a moment before landing on a fiery red. Her expression was detached as she de-maginitized the large gun from her back.

She shifted the weight of the heavy machinery in her grip, as if testing it. Her lip curled in disgust as she tilted her chin, moving the gun to one hand. She pressed the barrel of it under Jeopardy’s chin, forcing him to meet her eyes.

The moment the cold metal met his chin a weak cry escaped him, a strangled and choked noise. His processor blanked, letting the light pressure tilt his head up with no resistance. The metal was freezing against his throat, pressing into it enough to keep him from forming words. His vision swam with static as he struggled to breath. Jeopardy trembled, staring wide eyed at the towering mech above him, searchlights still blazing into him. He whimpered weakly, body tensing and bracing against whatever it was to come.

Sunrazor knelt down again, gun still firmly pressed against his neck. As she moved her eyes flicked once, her gaze narrowing as she leaned in closer to him. She contemplated him for a moment longer before her gaze shifted to white.

She smiled.

Jeopardy wished she hadn’t.

Pointed teeth bore in a cruel smile, she leaned in more. The gun’s barrel moved for a moment, only to be replaced by her large clawed hand. It pressed him to the ground. For some reason Jeopardy didn’t fight, his gaze locked onto her smile.

The medic had heard about what happened to one of the mechs on base—Bluerunner, a bot he never got to meet. The reports claimed that he had been crushed under Sunrazor’s boot. Jeopardy couldn’t help but wonder if his death report would be similar in nature

Assuming they ever found his body.

“How long were you planning on lying?” She asked, voice low and cold, sick amusement dripping from it like a venom. Sunrazor chuckled, still pressing Jeopardy back first into the cold ground. “Until we got out? Maybe until your little friends showed up to save you? When I left you on the battlefield? Or perhaps until we got back to base?”

Jeopardy stared up at her, plating trembling, hands shaking as they slowly came to rest against her hand. He didn’t claw it away, or try to push it from its place. He just sat there, doing nothing, saying nothing as she grinned above him, lights blinding his wide eyes.

He wished she had just shot.

She waited for an answer, her silence was calculated and patient. It was suffocating. Jeopardy opened his mouth to gasp for air—not because her hand was choking him but because his own mounting terror kept him from breathing normally. His chest heaved as seconds ticked by, eventually he managed to whisper out a response, voice breaking, “Please…”

Sunrazor shook her head, smile softening slightly as she tilted her head, eyes flicking to red for a moment, “That’s not an answer.”

A choked cry left Jeopardy’s mouth.

The titan leaned in more, her smile ever present as she looked at him over again. Her voice lowered in warning, engine growling, “I’ll tell you a secret, little medic, just a little something that might help you in the long run.”

Jeopardy’s grip on her hand tightened, hands shaking as he gasped for air.

“You really should consider answering,” she warned, eyes intensely burning him.

“The last mech that thought it was a bright idea to withhold information from me ended up praying to dead gods for me to stop,” her voice lowered, smile unwavering, eyes flickering red for just a moment, “There ended up being a little bit of him everywhere. Then I’d get the medics to put him back together so I could take him apart again.”

The medic’s mind blanked, a single name leaving his lips in a meek tone, barely even a whisper, “Echo.”

Neither of them moved for a moment.

“Yes!” Sunrazor grinned madly, eyes flicking between colors again as excitement ran through her. Her grip tightened slightly as she shifted her weight, pulling Jeopardy closer—he could feel the hot air of her vents washing over him now, the smell of hot metal making him gag slightly. The Decepticon nodded her head, “You two must be acquainted. How is he doing these days? His little Conjunx-to-be has been rather exhausting as of late, always whining.”

Jeopardy couldn’t think, the pressure on his neck felt like it was crushing him. He felt his hands grip go slack, his body trembling even more, feebly trying to curl into itself. Her grip tightened and the medic stopped trying to move, another small gasp escaping him. There was no point in fighting back. He was never going to win. He was useless, helpless, and his desperation had painted a target on his back. He could hear his heart thudding painfully against his ribs, too fast, too loud.

“Y-you don’t... have to do this,” he gasped, the words coming out in weak, broken bursts.

Sunrazor’s smile twisted wider at his words, like she was enjoying every minute of his suffering. Her eyes glowed with an intensity that made his spark feel like it was being slowly crushed in a vice, her searchlights still burning him.

She chuckled darkly, the sound vibrating against his chest. “You are all the same, you know that? Pitiful worms fighting for the scraps of a world that has long since died. You all squirm the same, pleading for mercy.” She paused, smile softening, “I never give it to them… Why do you think you should be the exception?”

His thoughts scattered again, trying to piece together a defense, any defense. He couldn't think of anything. He had nothing to offer her. Nothing that would make her reconsider. He whispered, voice quivering, barely above a breath, “Please.”

The titan hummed softly to herself, still smiling. She examined him again, slowly tilting his chin from one side to the other in her hand. After a moment of silence she grinned again, “You’ll break easy. You stopped trying to fight back so quickly, after all, you wouldn’t last a week.”

Jeopardy’s mind blanked again at the thought of being like this for a week. Of being under her eye, caught in her crushing grasp. He couldn’t find the energy to tremble anymore, dread making him fall still.