Whisper by Lady Venom

Writer's Note: Note: This is pretty much an episode redone. Hope no one minds, also, Whisper belongs to Evenescence.

Catch me as I fall
Say you're here and it's al over now
Speaking to the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself
This truth drives me into madness
I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away

"Rhinox, have you lost your CPU?" Rattrap ranted to Rhinox, who was laying flat, preparing to go off- line in search of Primal.

"The portal into transwarp space won't last long." He gave Rattrap one final look; both knowing that a single jolt could make him go off-line permantely.

Pressing the red button, Rattrap's rants diminished as his body shut down. Turning away, Rattrap faced Cheetor, locking away any fear he felt.

"Hey, kid, make yourself useful and get your shiny new butt skyward."

Excitement rose in the child's face, "Ya mean fly?"

Rattrap slapped his head at his stupidity, "Do I mean fly? No, I mean take a submarine. Of course I mean fly!"

Once Cheetor had left, Rattrap moved back to his best friends prone body.

Don't turn away
Don't give in to the pain
Though they're screaming your name
Don't close your eyes
God know what lies behind them
Don't turn out the light
Never sleep. Never die

What if he doesn't find him? What if he goes too far and the portal closes on him? So many what ifs! Moving back, he sat in front of the main comm-link. Cheetor was calling him.

"This is Cheetor! Code one emergency!"

"Oh sure, like things weren't bad enough," He muttered to himself. To Cheetor he asked, "Well, what have ya done now?"

"I ran into a Pred nest in Delta Quadrant. A couple of new nasties including Megs himself!"

New nasties? Megatron must have reformatted the two protos that fell in his territory!

"Oh pussycat, you really know how to tickle my joystick. We'll lay out the welcome mat." He terminated the link and activated a few buttons. "Sentinal, auto - guns online. Stand ready for full alert."

Not wanting anything to happen to Rhinox, Rattrap tried to wake him. But the computer beeped in alarm.

"Warning: Unit Rhinoxs core consciousness is extended beyond measurable limits. Any interruptions will result in permanent loss of spark."

I'm frightened by what I see
But somehow I know there's much more to come
Immobilized by my fear
And soon to be blinded by tears
I can stop the pain if I will it all away

Rattrap turned at the sound of the lift, seeing Dinobot. Happy that someone else was here to help him.

"Choppa face!" Than, realizing he sounded a little too overjoyed he added a little sarcastically, "Where've you been? Off savin' the universe or somethin'?"

His mind seemed to split in two at that moment. One listened and added a sarcastic quip whenever Dinobot grew cocky; the other was going over stratigies on keeping Rhinox safe.

Grabbing the gun tossed to him, Rattrap and Dinobot left. As they met with Cheetor Rattrap knew that they had possibly the worst cover ever. They were outnumbered, outranked, and out whatever else. But he didn't care, all that mattered now was to keep them away from the base.

After vollying a few shots back and forth, they thankfully paused. Checking, Dinobot observed that the new silver Predicon was the cause. But it was quickly dealt with.

"They have reinforcements!" Dinobot growled.

"Eh? Like it matters. Listen lizardbreath, just keep 'em away from da base."

Sentinal alerted Rattrap silently that Rhinox's core was growing too distant, and Rattrap felt a stab of fear. But he shoved it aside, choosing instead to fire at the Predicons.

Don't turn away
Don't give in to the pain
Don't try to hide
Though they're screaming your name
Don't close your eyes
Don't turn out the light
Never sleep. Never die

Looking up, the Maximal trio watched Silverbolt and Waspinator fly overhead.

"Megatron has deduced our stratigy, such as it was." Dinobot announced, shaking his head.

"Yeah? Well, now we need a new one. And pronto. If those two make to the base before we do, Rhinox is one dead battery"

At that moment, Sentinal gave Rattrap the final warning he'd been dreading: Unit Rhinoxs core consciousness dimming.

It was then that Rattrap chose to do something he hadn't done in a long time. He prayed, he prayed in earnest to the Matrix, to Primus and to every other Deity he could think of.

Driving Dinobot back to base he hoped Cheetor could stop the flyers in time. After taking care of Inferno and Megatron they arrived back in time to watch Sentinal take down Silverbolt.

"Hey cloudkitty, we woulda been here sooner if Dinobutt wasn't such a porker."

"Oh, the vilest ride of my life!"

Interrupting the banter, Silverbolt leaned up, "If you're going to destroy me, then get it over with."

Preparing to strike, Dinobot was stopped at the last second by the other two Maximals.

"It's not what Optimus would've done"

"Bah! Maximal sentiment. I must have been defective to defect."

Rattrap gave Dinobot a mock punch, " Eh, get bowserboy to the CR chambers, while I check on Rhinox."

Once inside, Rattrap started to call.

"Rhinox? Hey, Rhinox!…….Yo, hornhead!"

Getting no warning from Sentinal, Rattrap brought Rhinox on-line.

"Am I back?" Rhinox asked, a little groggily.

Rattrap breathed a sigh of relief, "The machine said so, but you had me worried for a second…" well, more than a second…." Where'd ya go, anyway?"

"Where all are one." He replied cryptically.

"Oh, where all are - what?"

"I'll explain later."

The base suddenly bucked under heavy fire.

"Shields are failing." Cheetor yelled.

"We're all gonna die!"

Rhinox cocked his guns, "It happens, but miracles happen too."

Fallen Angels at my feet
Whispered voices at my ear
Death before my eyes
Lying next to me I fear
She beckons me Shall I give in
Upon my end shall I begin
Forsaking all I've fallen for I rise to meet the end

~ FIN~