The Date: part 1

Booster sat at his desk, staring longingly at a picture of Sari Sumdac that he held in his hands. How he wished he could tell her how he felt but he was afraid to because he was afraid she would not return his feelings. He didn't want his heart broken twice in a row.

"Hey, whatcha looking at?" a voice asked, startling him.

"Wah!" the red alien space ranger yelped, dropping the picture. "No!" he dived down to the floor to grab it but a purple robotic hand snagged it before he could. "What's this?"

"Hey, give that back, XR!" Booster ordered, trying to grab the picture back.

XR held him back, and looked at the picture. "Hey, it's that Sumdac girl," he said, looking at him. "Why do you have a picture of her?"

"It's none of your business!" the space ranger shouted, struggling to retrieve the pilfered picture. "Now give it back."

XR took in his reacted and an understanding smile crossed the robots face. "Oh I see," he said. "You like her, don't you."

"It's none of your business!" he exclaimed, though the blush on his face gave away the answer.

"Now now, there's nothing to be ashamed of," XR stated. "You don't have to keep on denying it. It's obvious you got a crush on her."

"Do not," Booster insisted, folding his arms and turning away.

"Yes, you do?" he went on. "If you don't, why do you have a picture of Sari Sumdac and why were you staring at it like this-" He then proceeded to imitate his friend's expression, doing a poochy lip and making his optics look sorrorwful.

"Cut that out!" he shouted, punching XR square in the face and knocking him across the room.

XR hit the floor with a crash. "XR!" Booster shouted rushing across the room. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard. Are you all right?"
"Ow," the robot moaned, sitting up. he rested his hand against his helmet. "You didn't have to hit me! If I'd known you were that sensitive about it I never would have said anything."

"Well I am very sorry for doing that," Booster repeated. "I'm just feeling a little defensive about it. I didn't want anyone to know."

"Why not?" the robot asked. "If you like her, you like her."

"But I'm afraid she won't like me back," he replied. "I don't want a repeat of what happened with the other girl."

"Well you won't know unless you ask her."

"I can't do that!" Booster shouted.

"Why not?"

"What if she doesn't like me back?" he questioned. "What if she already has a boyfriend? What if her Autobot friend is her boyfriend?"

"We both already know he isn't," XR rpelied, pushing himself to his feet. 'They both said so. They're just friends."

"But she might have a boyfriend in her own dimension."
"Well you won't know unless you ask her."

"I'd rather not."

"Fine, then I'll ask Prowl," XR said, grabbing Boosters arm. "On second thought you can ask him and if he says she does then you can forget everything."

"And if she doesn't?" he asked uncertainly as he was led out of the office and down the hall.
XR smirked. "Leave that to me."

"Boyfriend?" Prowl stared at the two space rangers in confusion. "Why are you asking me if Sari has a boyfriend?"

"Well Booster here has the hots for your friend and-" XR began but Booster quickly covered his mouth. "Shh! Don't tell him that!"

"Well he wanted to know," XR shot back, pulling his friends hand away from his mouth.

Prowl frowned. "Oh that's why," he said as if he already knew. "Well I won't lie to you. She doesn't have a boyfriend."

"Really?" Booster asked hopefully.

"Really," the Autobot answered. "but I would not advice trying to get her attention."

"Why?"

"I won't lie to you," the Autobot told them. "and don't think I'm being mean when I say this, Booister, but. Sari wouldn't be interested."

"How do you know that?" the alien space ranger demanded.

"I just do," he said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. "I've known Sari much longer than you have so I know what she likes and doesn't and please don't take offense to this, but she really wouldn't be interested."

Booster clearly did not want to believe that and Prowl felt sorry for him. He sighed. "But, if you wish to try and gain her affections, feel free to do so."

Which was what Booster intended in the first place. He was sure he could get the girl's affections if he tried. If the girl didn't have a boyfriend that meant she obviously hadn't found the right guy for herself which meant it couldn't hurt to try for her.

And try he would.

"Thank you," he said shaking Prowl's hand.

The cyber ninja pulled his hand away. "Don't thank me yet," he said. "You haven't even done anything."

But Booster was too happy to really pay any attention to him. He turned away and practically floated out of the room. Once he was gone XR looked up at Prowl. "You sure letting him do that is a good idea?" he asked.

The Autobot shrugged. "Sari isn't my sparkling," he replied. "I don't really have any say in this matter. If he wants to try to get her to like him he can and I won't stand in his way. Besides." he smirked. "I know you're going to try to help him."

"Okay you got me there."

"Then you'd better catch up with your friend before he goes right up to her."

"Oops." XR spun around and wheeled after his friend. "HEY! WAIT FOR ME!"

Prowl slapped his palm against his face. 'This won't end well."

Of course Sari was totally oblivious to the goings on of the space rangers. She sat at one of the computers in the main control room playing a game. It was clear she in tended to stay there for awhile.

Booster and XR poked their heads into the room. "Okay," XR said when he saw the girl seated in front of the computer. "She's playing a video game. Now's a good chance to get her attention."

The red alien looked unsure. "I don't know," he said. "If she's playing a game she probably doesn't want to be bothered."

"You don't know girls at all," he said. "When a girl is doing something she's not really interested in it. She's just waiting for someone to come along and ask her to do something else."

"How do you know that?"

"Trust me I know." he grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room. "Now get over there and say something."

"But But-"

"Booster, do you want to me use the prongs?"

"Okay I'm going!"

Booster quickly moved actross the room until he drew near Sari who seemed totally intend on her game. "Umm uh.." he began nervously. "Excuse me uh.."

The girl didn't even look up. She most likely hadn't even heard him. Booster looked back at XR who made a face and then did a "don't give up now" gesture with his hands. The red alien turned back to Sari. "Uh... Sari, uh.."

Still no response.

Booster walked back over to XR. "Why are you giving up already?" he demanded.

"She's not even paying any attention to me and I don't want to interrupt her game."

"You'll never get a girlfriend this way," the robot stated. "You try for a few minutes then just forget about it. If you really want to go out with her you can't walk away just because she's not paying attention." he pushed him back toward the girl. 'Try again and this time stay there until she notices you."

Booster did so but not without some reservations, but XR seemed to know what he was doing so he didn't question him. The Joadian space ranger once again came up behind the girl. "Umm excuse me," he said.

"Oh drat! No don't go in there!" Sari yelled at the computer screen. "I said left not right! Stupid controller!"

Booster looked bact at XR. The robot frowned and pantomimed tapping someone on the shoulder.

Well that might work.

Booster reached out and gently tapped Sari on the shoulder. The girl, who was so into her game she wasn't aware of what was going on around her, jumped two feet. "Yipes!"

"Oh I'm sorry!" Booster exclaimed.

She glared back at him. "Don't do that!" she shouted. "You almost made me-"

Just then there was a blinking on the screen and the character Sari had been playing blew up. "Great," she grumbled folding her arms and making a face. "Just great. I was all the way up to level fifty too."

"I'm sorry," Booster said.

She frowned then looked back at him. "What do you want anyway?"

"I uh well," he stammered, trying to think of a good reason for bothering her. "I was uh.."

"What?"

He looked back at XR. The robot glared at him and mouthed. "Tell her!" he looked back at Sari. Her arms were folded and she had an "I'm waiting" look on her face.

"Umm would you like to uh.. go down to capital planet for a hot dog?" he blurted out.

From where he was standing XR did a face palm. Doesn't he know anything about dating at all?

Sari seemed to think about that request for a moment. A hot dog couldn't hurt. She hadn't eaten for awhile anyway and since she was going to be stuck there for awhile, it might be a good idea to learn about the different places. Besides, Booster was nice, unlike a certyain lecherous robot she could name. She nodded. "Okay," she agreed.

Booster looked surprised. "Really?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" she asked, getting out of her chair. "I need some exercize anyway." she headed towarf the door. "Come on then. Let's go."

"Okay." Booster moved to catch up with her. As he walked past XR he noticed the robot smirking and giving him a thumbs up. It had worked after all.

Booster gave him one in return and moved to catch up with the girl.

XR watched them go for a few moments then followed. Booster might need his help again. It couldn't hurt to give him a few more pointers.

"Prowl, have you seen XR and Booster?" Mira Nova asked coming into the LGMs lab where Prowl was currently residing. he wasn't there as a test subject, he was there to watch.

The Autobot looked away from what the small aliens were doing. "Not since they came to me earlier asking about Sari," he replied. Why?"

"I can't find them- wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "They were asking you about Sari?"

He nodded. "Booster wanted to know if Sari had a boyfriend."

"Oh.." Mira sighed and slapped her palm against her face. "I thought he was over that. What did you tell them."

"That she wasn't," he stated. "I also said trying to get her attention might not be a good idea. She honestly isn't interested but he insisted."

"Well did you convince him not to?"

"No, I figured it would be best if he found out by himself."

"Why didn't you just convince him!"

Prowl frowned and folded his arms. It almost felt like this woman was scolding him like he was some misbehaving kid. "My words don't hold much oil around here anyway," he stated. "I know Sari but I'm not considered credable about her feelings. The only way he will be able to discover that Sari does not want to be his spark mate is for him to be told by her."

"Oh." Now she understood. "But he's not going to take it very well."

"That's not my fault," he responded. "Even if I had tried to convince him otherwise he would have just tried it anyway."

"Maybe you should have lied then."

"Mira," Prowl said. "If you're so worried about his feelings maybe you should have tried convincing him yourself."

"I did try!" she insisted. "But he didn't listen!"

"So why would he listen to me then?"

Good point. She sighed and sat on in one of the empty chairs. "I got a bad feeling about this."

"If you're so worried about if why don't you look for him?" he suggested. "I'll go with you."

That sounded resonable. She nodded. "All right."

Sari hadn't actually been on Capital Planet in the time she and Prowl had wound up being transported into the other dimension so going down there wasn't much of a problem. She wanted to see it so she would and Booster proved to be a good tour guide, pointing out things and and telling its history but after awhile it got a little boring. Everything seemed to have the same history. It was a remake of a much older buiding that was torn down and its history with it.

Sari sighed. You couldn't really have fun on a tour when most of the buildings were the same age and their biographies were the same. The only differences was that each building had a different use, though none of them were all that new or interesting.

She was tempted to tell Booster this but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He'd been nice enough to show her around she didn't want to make him mad, but she didn't want to be drug into another boring building either. So she had to decide between his feelings and her sanity.

Finally she said. "Um Booster?"

"Yes?" he asked, looking at her.

"I don't want to sound like I'm being rude or ungrateful here but, this is kind of boring," she stated.

"Boring?"

"Yeah," she responded. "All these buildings seem to have the same history and it's kind of well. boring."

"How can you say it's boring?" he gasped, looking horrified.

"It just is," she replied, carefully so not to hurt his feelings."'Most of these places were all constructed the same year and they're not very interesting." she waved her hand at the hotel. 'There aren't even any legends or ghost stories to go with them!"

Booster made a face. So much for impressing her with his knowledge of Captial planet. "Well what do you want to do?" he asked her.

"Does this planet have an arcade or anything like that?" she questioned.

"An Arcade?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Maybe we could play some Dance Dance Revolution or something." she poked him. "I bet I could beat you at it."

"Bet you couldn't."

"Well why don't we see about that?" she suggested. "I challenge you do a match!"

"You're on!"

But now they had to find an arcade and Booster honestly didn't know where any of them were located. Of course he didn't tell Sari that. So instead they walked around the city until they found one. Sari ran inside right away and Booster followed but not before he noticed XR spying on him from behind a tree that was planted in the sidewalk. The robot grinned at him.

"Are you coming or not?" Sari called from inside the building.

"Um yes!" he called back, scurrying to catch up with her.

"I don't really understand why you're so worried about it," Prowl stated as he and Mira Nova walked through the city in an attempt to find Booster and Sari. "Is he really sensetive about these things or something?"

"No," Mira replied. "That's not it. Well... I don't like seeing my friends get hurt and I know it wouldn't be Sari's fault if they are but maybe she should have told him right away instead of leading him on and-"

"Sari didn't lead anyone on," Prowl stated firmly, a frown deepening on his face. "She's not that kind of person. If she hasn't told him by now it's probably because she either doesn't want to hurt his feelings or she's not even aware of them to begin with." The Autobot looked away from her, focusing his gaze over the city. "Now, why don't we just keep looking? I think I'm picking up Sari's energy signature."

"How come you can do that but none of the other robots or our technology can?"

"Why are you asking me that? Nos-4-A2 picked it up just fine."

"But he's evil and in jail." she saw the look he was giving her. "Oh no, we're not going to let him out just to find them."

"I never suggested that," he informed her. "I was going to say that aside from Autobots being equiped to picked up the energy signatures of their fellow Cybertronains, even though she's technically not one, I'm still linked to her emotions."

"I forget about that. How's she feeling right now, by the way?"

"I'm not feeling anything," he replied. "Which means she's doing something that's not stressful." he looked at Mira. "Let's keep moving. I get the feeling we're going to run into another person while we're here before we run into them."

"What makes you think that?"

Prowl pointed to something ahead of them. "That."

Mira looked where he pointed and spotted the source of his words. "Oh. I shouild have known."

"Yay! I win!" Sari threw her hands into the air and did a little victory dance. Booster, who stood on the other platform looked over at her with a slight frown.

The girl glanced at him. "What?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're a sore loser? I'm sorry. I've just had a lot of practice with games like this and-"

"That's not it," he said, panting. "I'm just, well."

She heard what he said and saw what he did. 'Oh okay, you need a break." she stepped off the platform. "Okay then, let's get a drink and then find some place to sit for awhile. We can always finish playing later."

"Ummm.. can we not play the game later?" he asked. "I'm kind of tired."

The techno organic girl looked disappointed but she nodded. "Okay sure. Wouldn't wanna wear you out or anything." she headed toward the concession stand.

Booster followed a few steps behind. The girl had so much energy. He wondered where she got it all. Was it because she was a robot or was it just that she had a really bubbly personality and that gave her a lot of energy. Either way, he was tired and hoped that the next thing they did didn't involved as much physical excertion.

Sari looked back at him. "Do you want anything?" she questioned. "Like a soda or something?"

"Water is fine," he replied, sitting down at one of the tables near the concession stand.

She shrugged. "Okay." then went back to what she was doing.

A few minutes later she joined him at the table, a drink in both her hands. Water for him a chocolate shake for her.

"So, Booster," Sari said, sipping her drink. "How come you asked me if I wanted to see the planet anyway?" something told her it wasn't just because he saw she was bored and decided to help her stave off boredom.

"Umm well," he stammered, not looking at her. He grabbed his drink and downed it in one gulp. "I just figured.. well.. you might want to see it, that's all," he said lamely.

"Oh," she said then went back to her drink, looking around the arcade at all the kids and grown ups with no lives playing the video games. "Well thanks for the invite anyway. I really was kind of bored being stuck in the space station. Prowl and I were supposed to go and look at the planets and stuff to kill time until the space bridge was complete but Commander Nebula ruined that."

"How do you mean?"

"He grounded us," she stated, rolling her eyes. "He's not even my dad and he's ordering me around like I'm his kid or one of his subordinates." she sighed.

Booster had no idea what to say to that. "Maybe he had a good reason."

"Yeah, we're robots so he doesn't trust us," she said, making a face. Suddenly she didn't want to drink her drink anymore. "Ugh he reminds me way too much of Captain Fanzone."

"Who's that?"

"The chief of police in my home town," Sari replied, stirring her drink with her straw. "Well maybe not town, more like city. He's got this thing against machines and well. They just bug him. Actually I think he hates kids more than machines." she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Commander Nebula just reminds me a lot of him."

"Oh." for a moment silence stretched between them then Booster asked. "You really miss your home don't you?"

"Of course I do," she replied honestly. "Wouldn't you if you got sucked into another dimension against your will?"

He had to agree with that. It he had he would have.

"Plus there's the fact that my dimension had a problem," she went on.

"Yeah?"

"Decepticons," she repolied then explained before he could ask. 'They're an evil race of machines that are at war with Prowl's race of Autobots. If we don't get back who knows what will happen." she sipped her drink, looking thoughtful. "For all I know Megajerk and his cronies have already laid waste to my home town. Rotten Decepticons."

"Well maybe they'll get the space bridge fixed soon," he suggested though he honestly didn't want that. If she left he'd never be able to see her again.

"Yeah, maybe." she shrugged. "It'll probably take awhile though."

"Yeah, I guess so," he said.

Sari sighed then picked up her cup and finished her drink in one slurp. When she was done she stood up. "Let's go," he said. "I don't feel like playing DDR anymore."