(Ok, so this story could get a little steamy, but I am trying to keep it rated correctly for this website. There may be an interface down the road, but only spark interfacing, nothing really graphic, but lots of romance and drama. Hope everyone likes it.)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Transformers characters in this story except for Trail Sprint.

Chapter 1

Lovestruck

Trail Sprint revved her engine and spun her back wheels attempting to free herself from the prison of sludge she was currently trapped in. Buried almost wheel deep in mud, the little four-wheeler's bright red paint job was now a mix of hazy red and dirty brown sludge.

"Little Sprint," Arcee cautioned her, "you're only working yourself in deeper, Ratchet said to sit still and wait, he's coming with some lifts to help get you out."

"I….don't….want…..to…wait," Trail Sprint grunted through twisting and weaving, stubbornly attempting to dislodge herself. "And…I…told…you…not….to…call….me….that."

"Ok, Litt….Trail Sprint, just wait for Ratchet, he'll know what to do."

"I know what to do," Trail Sprint huffed. "Ratchet's not a four wheeler, how would he know?"

"Cause he's a talented medic, used to helping bots with situations far worse than this and you're going to be training with him, so you might want to get used to his help."

Trial Sprint revved her engine again, attempting to set her right front wheel on the dry ground before her that seemed just out of reach. Weaving in a back and forth motion, she fired her engine hard one last time, spinning mud from behind her as she plastered Arcee and the newly arrived Ratchet with a fresh coating of brown muck.

"For the love of the Allspark," Ratchet rumbled.

"Sorry," Trial Sprint apologized, now freed but covered with a blanket of mud herself.

"Scrap," Arcee fired off, attempting to wipe mud from her metal frame, but only spreading it. "Little Sprint, you've got to be more careful and less stubborn. You're new here and this is a vastly different world than Cybertron was, you have a lot to learn, especially about mud."

"I said I was sorry," Trial Sprint groveled. "I just don't like feeling trapped like that."

"Well, what's done is done," Ratchet said wearily, "this mud isn't coming off without a good hose down."

"I'm already headed that way, you don't have to tell me twice," Arcee replied.

"Wait for me," Trail Sprint said, transforming and cringing a little as she felt mud shifting and creaking into her seams. They would all have to hose off twice, once in bot mode and once in vehicle mode to remove all the dirt.

Trail Sprint moved to follow her big sister and Ratchet when a strange sound and glint in the sky caught her optic. She moved toward it, curiosity claiming her as she was pulled in the direction of whatever it was she had noticed.

The three jets flew in formation with controlled precision. The sun flashed against their metal frames, creating sparks of light that glinted in the sky. It was a testament to their brazenness and pride that they flew out this close to the new Autobot base, they knew the Autobots weren't as powerful without Optimus and they wanted to show that they knew that. Trail Sprint watched as one of them rocketed closer to her, filling her surroundings with the sound of sky-splitting thunder, a roar that seemed to own the ground she stood on as she felt the earth jarring beneath her. A second jet suddenly jolted up, tearing through the sky in a blazing ascent, cracking the air as he stood his jet form on its tail. Still a third jet cut through the air on a speed-streaked decent wrapping around and spinning into a playful barrel role.

They were breathtaking Trial Sprint sighed as she stood in awe, continuing to watch them twist and weave with such supreme precision and control.

"Decepticons," Ratchet yelled at her from up ahead. "Trail Sprint, we have to get out of here!"

Trail Sprint backed away slowly, still memorized by the display above her, although she felt a panicky little tinge of fear, she also felt a strange little purring inside her spark at the sight she was witnessing. If they wanted to kill her, they already would have, surely they must have known she was there, standing almost right beneath them. They could have mowed her and her spark down right where she stood. But they hadn't, this was only a show, a message they were sending, to display their power and the Autobot's lack of it. And what a display it was Trial Sprint thought.

"Trial Sprint!" Rachet beckoned again.

Finally Trail Sprint transformed hastily and bolted away from the winged sirens. She was an Autobot after all and was here to help Ratchet with the new form of energon he was developing. She couldn't let him know about the feelings she had just felt stirring inside of her. She tried to shake the thoughts out of her processors as she speed back to base. But now that she had stood in that presence, felt the air shake around her as it careened in the rocketing roar of those powerful jet engines, she couldn't help but sigh at the thought of that power moving over and claiming her small frame.