**Matter of Pride**

"Quit that!" Sunstreaker growled as the sparklings poked at his radio controls. He wasn't the type to enjoy letting anyone climb inside him. They might smudge his leather or spill something. Especially young drone mechs like these ones. They were barely out of quarantine as it was – being properly well-behaved was a whole other ballgame for sure.

"He, he, give them some travelin' music. It keeps them he, he, he, entertained!" Frenzy-Jazz snickered as she pulled up besides him. Her small daughters bounced all over her seats in a chaotic rendition of some type of human dance.

"He probably doesn't have much of a sound system in there. It's not something he can polish you know," Barricade snickered as she drove along right behind them. The few drone sparklings riding within her were having a blast on her laptop. It had been a smart idea to load a ton of virtual games like Halo on it. Perhaps the only good idea those pathetic human teens had ever come up with…

Sunstreaker snorted in disgust. "I've got a sound system that would put both of you to shame!" he shot back.

"He, he, he, prove it," Frenzy-Jazz challenged. Considering that she was in Jazz's chassis – it was indeed a heck of a challenge at that. For Jazz had always prided himself at having the newest and finest of sound systems in order to play his beloved collection of music that he'd downloaded and saved during his intergalactic travels…

Not the least bit willing to ever back down from a challenge, Sunstreaker's console lit up. Much to the glee of the drone sparklings within him, who eagerly began poking at his radio buttons again. When he didn't tell them to stop, their optics beamed as they explored the fascinating noises that came through the speakers, flooding the car's interior with fascinating sound waves…. Soon, they were head banging away in total abandon.

"Decent, but Frenzy's are superior," the cruiser noted dryly.

If he'd been in bot mode, Sunstreaker would've so rolled his optics. He'd been stuck with these two obnoxious con femmes for just a few day cycles now – and he was already totally sick of them. Why in the hell had he agreed to this boring duty?!? All they did was move on every night, find a good spot to hide and wait out the day – and do it again the next night. To top it off, Frenzy decided where they went! Grumbling under his breath, the yellow Stingray slammed his dental plates shut and drove on in sullen silence, wondering if the chance to date Bumblebee was worth all of this….

"The horizon is brightening," Barricade noted a few hours later. This was their indicator that they should start looking for a safe place to rest for the daylight hours. With the chaos beginning and Decepticon mechs back on Earth – it was not smart for two deserters who happened to have been hidden femmes to be caught out in the open…. It would be a horribly slow death for them if they were caught by their former comrades.

Frenzy scanned with her long range sensors, at the same type she used the humans GPS system to give her a wider map. "There is an abandoned mining facility three clicks south." It seemed like a good place. Cross-referencing through the internet told her the general specs of such a facility. Large metal buildings and lots of room would make a good stopover for them and the restless sparklings… And there would be no humans to deal with either – even better!

"There's no road south," Sunstreaker snorted.

Frenzy and Barricade paid him no heed, as a single unit they turned off the paved back road and began to bounce over the rough terrain as they headed to their chosen destination.

"But the rocks will scratch my paintjob!" he whined. He stopped on the road, not quite willing to take that chance.

"Then he, he, he, transform and walk it - you trash compactor!" Frenzy snickered. Revving her engine, she spun a circle in the dust, making sure to kick gravel up at him.

"Hey! Watch it – you bitch!" Throwing his doors open, Sunstreaker waited impatiently for the two drone sparklings to eagerly tumble out. Transforming in a blur, he grabbed their hands before either one could scramble off very far. "Come on. You can run around in the building!" he ordered, not even caring about their feelings. Why Optimus had wanted the drone sparklings rounded up and raised as mechs – was beyond his understanding. They were just half-mechs. Mechs that were sparked with a mere fragment of the AllSpark…. Thus, they'd never be able to breed. To help the species rebuild its population…

Pulling him along, the two little drones didn't really even listen to him anyways. They'd already figured out that the two adult femmes were more fun. They seemed to like them. They'd play with them. So wherever Barricade and Frenzy went – they wanted to go too!

As the outlines of big dilapidated buildings came into view in the chilled morning air – the two drones chattered excitedly in their indecipherable sparkling beeps. The structures looked so big! They'd have plenty of room to run and play with their peers! As the yellow mech finally released his hold on them, they ran towards the open door, tumbling over each other in their rush…

"Drones Three and Six are a bit clumsy," Barricade noted in a matter-of-fact tone. Finding a comfortable place next to some rusted machinery, she sat down. Her optics caught the shimmer of yellow armor as the mech closed the door. Patting the floor next to her, she gave him a suggestive wink. Predictably, Sunstreaker just shot her his standard disgust-filled look and found a spot as far away from her as he physically could.

Frenzy snickered as she watched from the side. Finishing up her checks of what remained of the windows, she told the youngsters that they were free to play – within certain parameters of course. As she walked towards the other two adult Cybertronians, she swerved her path to take her closer to Sunstreaker. She was going to make him let Barricade give him some attention – and she had a full-proof plan in doing so.

"What do YOU want?" Sunstreaker snorted as the silver femme stopped in front of him. He was sick and tired of everything to do with this mission! The constant driving on the road night-in and night-out was exhausting to say the least. And the freagin' dust!!! It was all over him again! Without even thinking about it, he pulled out his cloth and cleaning wax – even as he glared up in annoyance at the freak.

"He, he, turn around for a moment," Frenzy-Jazz ordered with a nod.

"Why? So you can stick another 'shoot me' sign on my tail pipes? I think not!" Sunstreaker turned his attention back to his armor cleaning, pointedly giving the femme the cold shoulder again. This had worked well so far. She'd usually shoot some insult and then walk off.

This time she didn't. "He, he, he, Why would I do that – when the dust is so thick on your armor that I can just write it with my little digit?" Tauntingly, she raised one of her long digits and wrote the two words in the air.

"It is not!"

"Is too, he, he, you're now tan on your aft – not yellow!" Frenzy made a point of scanning him with critical optics. "And he, he, he, you look better this way. So keep the dust if you like!"

With a derisive huff, Sunstreaker hopped up onto his tired peds and tried to look at his aft in order to so prove the freak wrong. It didn't work very well, since mechs weren't built to turn their torso that far. Grumbling in disgust, he began to search the old factory for something he could use in place of a mirror.

Snickering mischievously, Frenzy went over and lay down across Barricade's lap. "He, he, clean off my back side would ya? Dust is a he, he, bitch around here."

Realizing exactly what her fellow femme was up to, Barricade whipped out her cleaning supplies and began to follow her orders. Without the slightest of refusals either. She kept her optics on the happy sparklings running amuck – but out of the corner of them she watched the mech. Her amusement increasing as his quest for a mirror went unfulfilled… He was such a gorgeous mech – unfortunately with quite the matching ego. She could deal with the ego though, if she could eventually manage to catch his golden yellow aft. A smug smile turned the corners of her lip components as she listened to the sounds of his continued search. He was very entertaining to pick on as well as to look at! It did seem to make the current situation of playing hide-and-seek with their former comrades – somewhat endurable.

"You're fucking lying!" he snarled as he stormed up to the two femmes. Granted, he had no idea if Frenzy was being honest or not – but considering the fact that she was a con – she had to be lying. Just HAD to!!! He just couldn't stand the thought of her actually being honest about his backside being that utterly disgusting!

Barricade grinned up at him, her digits running the towel over Frenzy's now-gleaming backside. "Those avian feces blend right in," she snickered, "with all the rust that is showing up on your tail pipes. You really should spend more time on maintenance. If you don't – you'll just fall to pieces."

"He, he, might make him easier to stand if we only had to listen to half of him though." Frenzy glanced up from her prone position, her optics gleaming in the gloomy interior of the old building. "Yeah sucker, he, he, he, let yourself get a nice layer of rust. I like you better this way!"

To their great amusement, this caused the mech's optics to widen in absolute horror. He contorted himself into strange angles as he tried to wipe the mess off with his hands. His meta filled with a horrifying vision of his backside covered in rust, dust and feces!

Frenzy yawned lazily as she sat up; enjoying the meta game she was playing with the chauvinistic pig of a mech. Although she wished Optimus had assigned Ironhide to help protect them, she more than understood his logic in assigning the ex-gladiator. Not only could Sunstreaker actually keep up with her and 'Cade in a flat-out race – Prime was also hopeful they'd force him into mating with the cruiser. But now that Frenzy was pregnant, the two femmes had agreed that 'Cade had better wait a few weeks. This way they could help each other deliver and quarantine the sparklings if need-be.

And this waiting period also gave them more time to wear down Sunstreaker's resolve NOT to mate with Barricade. Sure, it'd be a blast to chain his tail pipes down and force the matter – but it'd be even MORE entertaining to totally dupe the mech into willingly doing the deed. And Barricade had more than just a passing interest in the gorgeous mech as well. So here they were, getting him right where it hurt the most – his pride over his paint job! The manipulation technique was working so nicely too…

"Lay back down, I missed a smudge," Barricade told her and patted her leg. She pointedly ignored the golden-yellow mech standing over them. For some reason, she just knew that this treatment would annoy him even more than her continual sexual harassment. Perhaps the cold shoulder routine WAS the way to go in order to catch his spark?

"She can slaggin' wait! I'm a mess!" Sunstreaker couldn't stand it any longer. His entire chassis felt totally grimy now. Not even caring that it was Barricade who would be cleaning his armor - he rudely shoved the Jazz look-a-like out of the way and plopped himself down across her legs. "Get it OFF ME!!!" he ordered.

"I'm not done with Frenzy," the cruiser retorted as she pretended to be trying to pry the Autobot off her lap. Her mischievous smirk told another story though…Granted, Sun couldn't see her expression since he was face plate down in her lap.

"Who cares about HER. She's ugly! My paint job… The bird shit is going to eat right through it!" the yellow mech curled an arm around her leg, unwilling to be pried off of her. She just HAD to clean him off! He couldn't do that side of himself – and Side's wasn't around. True, she was the obnoxious femme who'd been chasing him around – but personal hygiene superceded EVERYTHING right now! Even his repulsion over her even touching him!

"He, he, he, at least I'm not some egotistical piece of slag mech!" Frenzy burned back. True, she'd started all of this TO get him in Barricade's lap – but she had to be herself or he'd realize he'd been duped. Mechs were so freagin' stupid!

Sunstreaker turned his head, laying the side of his helm on the cruiser's leg armor so that he could look Frenzy's way. "If you actually looked GOOD – then you'd freagin' have something TO have an ego about," he retorted.

Snorting in disgust, Frenzy spat on him, "You're the only one who he, he, he – thinks you look good! He, he, he, or haven't you noticed?" Turning, she stomped off to play with the sparklings a bit. This was how their arguments always ended. With her throwing one last burn and marching off – a perfect act this time as well…

"Fucking wench," he muttered under his breath. Setting his helm back down against the leg armor beneath him, he shifted his chassis to get more comfortable. "I'm ready."

Barricade let out a fake snort. True, this is where she wanted this mech – but she wasn't about to let him off that easy. Nope, Decepticon femmes just weren't the fluffy type. They made the objects of their desire – the objects of their ridicule as well. So, true to form, she was going to make him more than uncomfortable. "Ready for what – mating?" she taunted, while her hands drifted along his backside.

"Not in a million orbit cycles," came the predictable reply, "just get the grime off of me!"

"Say 'please' – and maybe I'll think about it." She was enjoying this game of manipulation. Perhaps she should learn more of these tricks from the hacker femme?

Smacking the digits away that were slipping in to explore his hip servos, Sunstreaker snorted with contempt. "I don't say 'please' to anyone! Now, just do it! And quit that – you KNOW I'm not going to slag you EVER!"

Removing her hands, 'Cade unexpectedly kicked up with both knees. In a blur of motion, she spun around on her tail pipes just as his weight left her. With an evil smirk, she watched him as he fell. He'd better learn to treat her with some respect – or he could remain a half-spotless and half-filthy mech for the entirety of their mission!

The startled mech popped up in the air, slamming down on the rubble-strewn floor with a thud. "What the frag?!?" he snarled as he jumped up and looked down at his chassis. His front side was now almost as dirty as what he envisioned his backside as being. Not to mention the fact that he now had scratches all over his hood! "You whore! Just LOOK at what you've done to me!!!" he bellowed in rage. Kicking out at the cruiser, he proceeded to initiate a full-on fight between them.

The sparklings squealed in a mixture of fear and excitement as the sounds of battle filled the large building. Running to Frenzy, they climbed onto her for protection. Their chatters blended right in with the curses and punches now flying between Barricade and Sunstreaker.

Sidestepping to avoid the tumbling forms of the now wrestling pair, Frenzy made her way to a wall. Leaning against it, she stroked her digits soothingly along the various sparklings that were gripping her armor tightly; like some mother possum with her batch of offspring gripping her fur. "Don't worry little ones. This is why Decepticon femmes are superior to Autobot – we don't put up with mechs and their bullshit," she chuckled. She had to shift her position again as Sunstreaker threw Barricade through the wall at the very spot she'd just been standing.

With a snarl, 'Cade stood up and shook herself off. Pieces of the rusting wall flew into the building as she pounded back through it with her fists. Energon gushed from her busted lip component, making her already devilish appearance even that much more menacing. She rushed the former gladiator without a second thought.

Caught a little off guard, Sunstreaker found himself thrown against the opposite wall. Cursing as he stood back up, he glared at the advancing femme. "I don't care what Prime said. You're fucking femmes and you do what we say!" With a clang of steel-on-steel, he met the femme head-on. Their arms locked once more as they wrestled each other for dominance. He was sick and tired of handling femmes with kid-gloves on. And by Primus – he was going to show them who was boss!

But he had spoken without first thinking about the consequences. And the consequence was that now he had two adult Decepticon femmes pissed at him – which for a mech of the same size as them, who had no mech to back him up – was NOT a wise position to be in. Even Optimus himself might've been slightly concerned about escalating the fight to this point. Sunstreaker on the other hand, was so caught up in his own sense of superiority, that he simply had no qualms about voicing his true feelings about the position of the femmes.

Her optics narrowing, Frenzy ordered the sparklings off of her and marched towards the unwary mech. "Fuck you mech – YOU do as WE say!" she snarled.

Before he could react to the new threat, Sunstreaker's chassis was suddenly gripped by a magnetic field. A magnetic field that was so powerful – he was totally helpless against it. It peeled him from Barricade's grasp, carrying him through the air like a helium balloon. He grunted in pain as he was smashed against one of the heavy metal support struts. The sound of his armor being dented and scratched filling him with renewed rage.

His rage was short-lived though. For his punishment was far from over. Again and again he was smashed against the support - Until the increasing level of pain overcame his rage… He fought against the magnetic field. His actions becoming more frenzied as more of his energon dripped to the floor with every second. "LET ME GO! YOU FUCKING… UGHHH… AKKKKK…. NGSSSSTT…. BITCH!" he screamed. His sentences split up by grunts as Frenzy-Jazz directed her powerful electromagnetic field so that he was pummeled against the immovable beam of steel.

Minutes passed as the aft-whooping continued. Frenzy more concerned with proving her 'leadership' in the Decepticon fashion – than Sunstreaker's well being. Or even his continued functioning for that matter. His ability to vocalize slowed as his chassis weakened. The ground beneath the beam now wet with his life-sustaining energon. Still, the femme continued her assault. Her meta overcome by the emotion of revenge. Sunstreaker was no longer seen as the Autobot he was. All Frenzy saw him as – was a mech. And mechs had used, abused, controlled and destroyed her sex for far too long! Everything she hated was now embodied by a single unfortunate mech, and her pent-up rage had overcome her logic…

"Frenzy, cease this. He is punished," Barricade said as she walked over and stood next to her leader. The anger had faded from her optics, replaced by a growing concern over the well-being of the mech. He was becoming far too weak. Far too damaged…

Frenzy didn't seem to hear her words. She continued to bash the mech into the beam.

"Frenzy, cease this!" the cruiser turned to the silver femme; her request becoming more insistent now.

Once again, her words went unheard.

With a snarl, 'Cade resorted to the Decepticon way of getting another's attention. Smashing her fist into Frenzy's face plate, she not only got her attention but also shocked the silver femme into deactivating her electromagnets. Spinning away from her, the cruiser ran over to where the mech fell. Kneeling beside him in the energon-created mud, she checked his condition - Which wasn't very good…

"How dare you hit me! I'm your leader – or do I need to whoop you again?!?" Frenzy snarled as she rubbed her stinging lip component.

"You were hyperfocused. I had to – or you would've off lined him," 'Cade replied in the same level tone she had once used when speaking to Megatron. Sliding her arms under the battered golden-yellow mech, she picked him up, alarmed at the fact that he was now unconscious. "You must repair him," she said as she turned and faced Frenzy.

Frenzy turned her back on her. "Fuck him. He's just a chauvinistic pig. Let him suffer!" Not waiting for 'Cade's reply, she gathered up the sparklings and led them to one of the other dilapidated buildings.

Left alone with the mech, Barricade shook her head in dismay. She'd have to stabilize him then. They couldn't afford to lose him. If nothing else, there was the potential that the other mechs would be off lined in the current conflict. This would leave Sunstreaker as the only remaining breeding-able mech. Since he wasn't directly related to her, Frenzy or Ratchet's two young daughters – he would be able to continue on the species if need be. Species preservation was one of the primary objectives of the femmes now, so it was of practical necessity to keep him alive. Regardless of how much a chauvinistic pig he was!

Going over to an old conveyer belt, she kicked off the rusting slag that once were machines off of it. With more gentleness than could ever be expected of a Decepticon, she laid him down. Stripping him of most of his armor, she found the bleeders that were leaking out his remaining energon. With a roll of duct tape that she kept in her own first aid battle field repair kit – she began to stop the leaks.

After an exhaustive hour or so of work, she had his internal systems reasonably patched up. A repair that would've taken Frenzy or Ratchet a mere 15 minutes to have done… But Barricade only knew basic first aid. Unlike Frenzy, she had not rebuilt herself over-and-over. Her mother femme had rebuilt her during the femme annihilation. Had rebuilt her into such a ghastly mech – so that she'd never needed to disguise herself further.

With an exhausted sigh, the cruiser sat down next to the armorless mech. Her optics drifting down to the pile of dented and crumpled armor that the mech had so prided himself on. Now it was barely recognizable as armor – much less anything he could be proud of… Briefly, she wondered how the egotistical mech was going to take the news once he reactivated.

Sunstreaker groaned as he rebooted. Every linkage and servo throbbed in pain. He'd never taken a beating this bad before! Alarms rang throughout his meta. His energon levels were critically low now. If he didn't refuel, he'd soon shutdown again. Clicking on his optics, he whispered 'energon' even before he could focus.

He felt an arm go under him. Felt himself get propped up against a femme's armored side. His sensors felt too sensitive. The slightest pressure was uncomfortable. He ran internal diagnostics even as he felt a press against his lips components. Opening his mouth, he swallowed the warm energon. His optics brightening to full focus as his scan results came back… Weakly tensing in apprehension as he realized he was completely unarmored…. Completely naked… Completely vulnerable… He choked slightly in shock.

"Swallow," Barricade simply ordered. Pulling the side of the cube back a bit, she waited for the choking mech to swallow before putting it back to his lips. It was easy to guess at what he had startled about. "Your armor took heavy damage. It must be repaired prior to reattachment." Her tone was flat and emotionless. This was a Decepticon's way of showing some concern, since they had no concept of true love or care.

Sunstreaker's optics narrowed slightly even as he drank. So Frenzy had damaged his perfect armor when she had so rudely butted into their little spat?!? He was so gonna give that bitch a piece of his freagin' meta when he was repaired. But wait – who was going to repair him?? His core plummeted, for he knew who was the true 'medic' in their group – it was none other than the very freak who'd caused the damage in the first place. Primus, what the hell was he going to do now?!?

"It is pointless to consider retaliatory actions," the cruiser said. Again, she seemed to instinctively know just what direction his meta was going. Since he had consumed enough of the energon to keep him going for a little while, she nodded to him as she set the cube to the side. It would be wise to keep him too weak to do anything more than verbally pitch a fit for a while.

"And why is that?" he snorted, his hands balling into fists as he imagined the satisfaction of feeling some silver armor crunching underneath them.

"She has proven her dominance. She is our leader," 'Cade replied with a shrug.

Sunstreaker growled and tried to sit up. He was still too weak though, so he collapsed back down against her side. "Autobots don't follow a mech just because he beats them in a fight. Through a back-handed sneak attack by the way!" he muttered angrily.

The cruiser wasn't phased in the least. These same reactions to authority were common in the con ranks. That's why their leaders had to continually beat rebellion down. "It is the Decepticon way – we are Decepticon femmes. You are assigned to us, under Frenzy's authority. Thus, you follow our policies."

"Over my sparkless chassis," he spat.

Barricade rolled her optics. Standing up, she glared down at him as he fell back to the table with a loud thud. "If you continue on in this manner, you shall obtain your wish." She bent down, her optics locking with his in all seriousness. "And we shall not even think twice about leaving your empty chassis to rust away into nothingness. Only those whom conform and have strength shall survive. To teach and lead the next generation."

"You wouldn't dare." No one left a mech behind! It was against their entire theology.

Standing back up, the femme smirked at him. "Prime's only objective in life now is to protect the next generation and those of us capable of producing them. The loss of a mech in the process is a miniscule set back. Easily explained as a loss in the line of duty."

"That'd be a slaggin' lie – and you know it!" With great effort, he weakly propped himself up on an elbow, grimacing with the discomfort of bare circuits scraping rough metal.

"Would it? Your duty is to help protect us, which means you must get along with us. Inability to do this, which might indeed cause your off lining, is indeed a loss in the line of duty." She crossed her arms, giving him her most smug look.

These femmes could twist facts and words around as thoroughly and Ironhide could shred a building in a multitude of ways! But facing his own potential demise and realizing that not even a tear would be shed over it – made the mech pause and actually think for once before he spoke. He was trapped. Trapped into getting along with these obnoxious cons. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to change that! If he left them and rejoined the main Autobot offensive – then he'd be dishonored for disobeying direct orders. Ironhide would never let him even so much as LOOK in Bumblebee's direction then!

Worse yet, if he left this guard position – and the femmes and sparklings were captured – he'd most likely be disbanded from the Autobots. He gnawed on his lower lip component as he went over all of his options. None of which he enjoyed in the least.

"Understand Sunstreaker, we feel as much displeasure with your attitude – as you seem to be with ours. We are all trapped in this mission." Barricade's voice went very low as she spoke. Her words voicing his own thoughts to a tee….

He arched an optic ridge at that parallel. But how could THEY be displeased with HIM??? He was perfection! Both as a warrior – and as a mech! Were they so into ghastly looking Decepticons that they couldn't see him for the perfection that he was?!? He thought back to the fact that Frenzy had shown preference for Ironhide over Optimus. Sure, she had mated the leader, but only because it was contracted. And she had made that quite apparent to everyone. If he had been in her chassis, he would've preferred the better looking and calmer Optimus over the rough and rogue Ironhide any day cycle. So perhaps his theory was right on the mark? Perhaps these two annoying femmes needed to be shown what a real mech was.

A weight lifted off of his door wings as he came to that conclusion. He now had a specific purpose to aim for. He would accept Frenzy's so-called leadership – for now. But he would teach the pair about real mechs – Autobot mechs! And why they were so superior to any Decepticon mech! Well, in every way other than interface that is. He still wasn't about to touch either of them with a twenty click crankshaft!

He actually smiled at her then. "Good, at least we understand each other then." Shifting his weight, he attempted to reach for the energon cube that was just out of his grasp. "Give me a hand – would you?"

Cocking her head, she gave him a curious look. His sudden change in demeanor was suspicious to say the least. "Why?"

"I can't very well start repainting my armor after you two fix it – when I'm this depleted," he snorted. His sarcasm was much less than it had been though.

She came closer. "You accept her leadership over you?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, you're right. We're all stuck in this together now aren't we?" He wiggled his outstretched digits imploringly.

"You accept a femme over you in rank?" She still wasn't quite buying his sudden change. Every servo felt a scam.

He shrugged dismissively. "If I don't – I'm either off lined or I face senior Autobot officers who won't be happy." He gave her a wink. "It's not like you're really superior to me."

Ok, that sounded more like him. So, he'd finally come to the realization that he had to accept a femme leader – even though he still felt like he was superior. It was a start at least. Reaching down, she grabbed the cube and handed it to him…

----

Sunstreaker grumbled quietly as he snuggled up to the warm chassis next to him. Leave it to the freak to decide that they needed some defrag shifts before they would start repairing his armor. Probably trying to teach him a lesson or something! He thought in disgust. Frenzy was more than aware of the issues faced by an armorless mech.

Armor served not only to protect one's circuits, but to also insulate. Without it, he couldn't maintain normal temperature for performance in the high altitude of this mountainous terrain. It was reasonably manageable in the warmer daylight hours, but the temperature made a precipitous drop the second the sun disappeared over the horizon.

This left him to rev his engine to maximum rpms in a desperate effort to generate enough excess heat to keep surrounding circuits from freezing. He couldn't maintain the effort. They all knew it. So Barricade had pulled a large heavy tarp from her trunk and had offered to allow him to snuggle tight against her and use her excess heat. He was sure that she had an overt agenda – but he had no other viable option to choose from.

So here he was, snuggling up against the femme he found so repulsive as if they were lovers or something. He didn't voice his true opinion on the matter though. Doing so might negate a few of the gains he had made that afternoon. He thought they were beginning to 'like' him, which was the first stage in proving to them that he was ten times the mech any of the Decepticons were! He'd just kept his mouth shut and his comments to himself. In fact, he had even managed to get the femmes to include him in their card game. In his meta, this was a major victory towards his new 'personal' goal.

"Here," the cruiser said. She lifted the tarp up a little bit, making it obvious that she was inviting him to press tight against her core heat.

Grinding his dental plates together in an effort not to spout off his thoughts and blow her off, Sunstreaker merely nodded and did so. That creepy squeamish feeling flowed through his nets as his naked circuits made contact with her smooth warm armor. His retracted transfer would've retracted further if it could, as the unit rubbed against her. Primus, it was bad enough for a mech to do this WITH his protective armor on – it was absolutely horrid to do this naked!

Deciding that he'd better turn away from her – or he'd spew right in her face plate; Sunstreaker did so. He sighed in relief as his backside pressed against her now.