I bet you guys thought I was gone for good didn't you? Haha, well I'm not as you can see, I've just had a crapload of things happen which include a wedding a funeral and me now having a criminal record. This story is not completely fleshed out so it may be a little bumpy.

Salvation

"Aim a little higher." Arcee instructed. Shockwave did as she said, taking aim, calculating distance, time, rate, whatever science thing he was doing, and still missed his target. Shockwave's cannon left a huge crater where he had blasted, but the rock she had told him to aim for was still intact. "Shockwave, you're over thinking this." She told him.

"There is no such thing as over thinking Arcee." The purple Decepticon- or former Decpticon, replied lowering his arm again.

She lifted it back up, and leaned against his chassis to help him aim, "Yes there is." She argued, "There is no need to be so calculative. You just aim at your target and fire...there, is your cannon lined up with the target?"

"One needs to be able to measure against moving targets." Shockwave told her.

"We're not practicing with moving targets, are we?" Arcee nudged him playfully, "Is it lined up or not?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then fire."

Shockwave complied, the blast was loud and the recoil knocked them both back a step, but this time Shockwave hit the boulder. Arcee gave a triumphant whoop for both of them while Shockwave only managed a prideful "Hm" before he lowered his cannon and turned away. "I'm going to check on the Energon." He said nonchalantly.

Arcee rolled her optics, "Oh come on Shockwave, just one more target!" She argued, when he looked back at her she pointed to another boulder much further away than any of the others she had assigned him already, "Try to hit that one over there."

"I believe we have practiced enough for today." Shockwave replied.

"And I believe practice makes perfect, and the last time we ran into a group of bounty hunters I believe the only reason you didn't get killed was because the blast from your cannon was so big it didn't matter that you missed them by a mile." She teased.

"Arcee-"

"Come on!" Arcee returned to her spot against his chassis and lifted his cannon arm, "Aim and fire, if you hit it we can check on the Energon, if you don't try again."

Shockwave made a noise somewhere between annoyance and amusement and pushed Arcee away from him. He then fired his cannon at the boulder and it broke apart in a single blast. Arcee started at the rubble in surprise as Shockwave turned away to return to the equipment that was processing the raw Energon they had harvested. Arcee turned on her heels and chased after him.

"Hey! What was that!?" She demanded.

"That was your educational skills for the techniques needed for sharpshooting at work." Shockwave answered.

"But you never hit targets on the first try!" She pointed out.

"I do not attempt to." He said simply.

"And what do you mean by that?" Arcee asked, "Are you telling me you've been missing those rocks on purpose?"

"Affirmative."

"Why?"

Shockwave turn to her and touched her face his his one hand, "Because I have become quite fond of these lessons of yours."

If Arcee had the ability to blush as organics did she probably would have. Shockwave's and dropped and he continued back toward the ship and their equipment. They had been on the run from Decepticons and bounty hunters on this mission for longer than Arcee cared to keep track of, and when they weren't fighting for their lives it could get pretty boring. The two of them had made an arrangement of sorts, Shockwave would teach her how to operate his equipment and make sense all of his science stuff (easier said than done) and she would teach him how to properly use the weapons they had liberated.

For being a legendary fighter Shockwave really wasn't that impressive unless they were in close combat or he had a big gun with a large blast radius. Shockwave claimed it was because he only had a single optic which effected his depth precision and made it difficult for him to understand long range weapons the way Cybertronians with two optics did. Arcee just thought his aim sucked.

Arcee shook her head and followed Shockwave back to the ship, and read the energy levels on the equipment, only a few more moments and the Energon would be completely processed and they could move on to the last mine that Shockwave had seed on this planet. Then they'd leave and try to get to the next planet without being caught by bounty hunters. Six planets down fourteen to go.

Arcee wished that were as impressive as it sounded.

Still even with the little progress they had made with the Genesis project, Arcee did consider their personal relationship at an all time high. She slipped her hand into Shockwave's while they waited for the Energon to finish processing. There was definitely something going on between them, but Arcee wasn't sure she wanted to call it a budding romance. Shockwave would certainly argue against that term.

Even a logic devoted mech like Shockwave found himself in need of physical companionship then and again, and while they hadn't made any attempts to initiate such a relationship between them Acree knew they were both thinking about it.

The equipment made a noise and Shockwave's hand parted from Arcee's as they started packing it up. Normally Shockwave planted only one mine per host-planet, but this particular planet had such a rich envoirnment he had decided to plant a second on the other side of the world. It was also a bit of an experiment with the Energon, to see if planet temperature had any effect on Energon crystal growth and nourishment.

It took at least an hour to get everything packed up and onto the ship. Arcee tended to the Energon while Shockwave set the coordinates for the next mine. She was just turning around when she found Shockwave right behind her. It was amazing that a mech as big as Shockwave could be so quite that he could actually sneak up on her like that.

Shockwave's optic flickered with amusement when she shrieked and fell back a step. He caught her by the arm to prevent her fro falling over on the Energon cubes. "Careful." he warned.

Arcee pulled her arm away from him and stood on her toes to put her lips against the rim of his face. A small electric shock met her lips, the closet thing Shockwave could manage to a kiss, and one unlike anything Arcee had ever experienced. "How long until we get to the next mine?" She asked.

"Normally it would not take long, but sensors indicate another ship nearby so I recommend a full stop and wait for them to pass." He replied.

"How long?"

"A day, perhaps."

Arcee kissed him again, caressing his arm. Shockwave usually stopped her from going too far when she made any attempt at intimacy, but did not do so now. It was about time they allowed themselves a little pleasure with their business. Shockwave pressed her against the wall of the ship carefully, he outweighed her and was much larger, he could easily crush her if that was his intention. But it wasn't.

Shockwave was more of a robot than any of the other Cybertronians in their entire machine race, and it showed in his sexual practice. Every movement he made was an experiment in what gave Arcee the most pleasure, from an ardent caress to his unique way of kissing, everything was calculated and filed away so that he could use the information later if they ever engaged in this again. Arcee was a little more wild, her movements unpredictable to Shockwave as their bodies entwined against the wall. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands roamed his back. Shockwave thrust their ports together and they exchanged pleased moans.

Shockwave did not initiate a spark bond.

As it had not been his intention to have anyone accompany him on this mission, let alone a companion as endearing as Arcee, spark barriers had not been in the items he had stocked this vessel with. Which was a real shame because Arcee wanted more, she almost wanted to say screw the barrier and bond, but she clamped her mouth shut and let Shockwave finish.

It wasn't a disappointing sexual encounter, far from it, but it did feel like something was missing. Shockwave held Arcee in his arms a little while and the silence was rather awkward as they wondered what to do now. It seemed a bit rude to just go back to work after this experience, but that was what they ended up doing. Still wary of the ship that the radar had picked up, Shockwave had the vessel move slowly across the planet toward the second mine. Arcee stood at his side, her hand back in his.

It was silent again, but a good silence.

Okay, so things aren't exactly one hundred percent awesome with me right now, so I won't be updating this as often as I updated any of my other stories, but at least you know its out here.