Important Information
"Blah" Speaking
::Blah:: comm. link
'Blah'bonded speech
'Blah' thinking
Astrosecond- 2.5 earth Seconds
Klik- 150 earth seconds/ 2.5 earth Minutes
Orn- 150 earth minutes/ 2.5 earth Hours
Joor- 60 earth hours/2.5 earth Days
Metacycle- 17.5 earth days/2.5 earth Weeks
Vorn- 10 earth weeks/2.5 earth months
Stellercycle-30 earth months/2.5 years
Breem-slang for a moment/minute.
Night Cycle: star down to star up
Day Cycle: Star up to star down
Authors Note: Alright, here it is guys, the sequel to Running Wild. For new readers, this story won't make a lick of sense unless you read that story first. For returning readers, thank you for reading this stroy as well, let's get this show on the road :D
The story's rating is as such for later chapters, and each chapter will have its own set of warnings. Please read these warnings and keep them in mind for each chapter.
And as always, thank you to my wonderful beta, DarkestHour10, who always manages to catch all the little mistakes J
Disclaimer: I own only my OC's, nothing else.
()()()
The V-twelve engine screamed as the red Lamborghini took the corner hard, dust kicking up from the back tyres as it drifted around the cone in the middle of the figure eight. The red headed girl that drove the Lambo laughed as she did her second figure of eight on the obstacle course, her brown eyes sparkling with delight, the base from the music pounding through her and the powerful metal frame.
Her male passenger laughed with her, relaxing easily in the passenger seat, at ease with her at the wheel; his black hair unaffected by the wind and his blue eyes wide with joy, almost glassy as though he was high, the drive his drug.
The high performance car suddenly straightened out as she took them out of the figure eight, pushing the engine harder, faster, barrelling towards the mud pit. Danny fully intended to drift through that too, intending to coat mud along the crimson fenders.
"They're not going to make it."
Callie glanced up from her stop watch to look at Thundercracker's bored faceplates, his red optics following the red sports car as they ran the obstacle course.
Settling a little more comfortably on the seeker's wide blue shoulder plate, the blonde grinned up at him. "I dunno TC. They're going pretty hard. I think they'll shave a few seconds off their time."
A hard snort from behind the blue seeker made Thundercracker glance over his shoulder to see Starscream slowly making his way to where the Decepticon and human stood, watching Danny and Sideswipe going through the obstacle course, trying to beat their best time.
A soft feeling rippled through the other seeker and to his trine mate, he was glad to see his trine leader had come out. After six weeks, Starscream was still having a hard time fitting in with their new allies; it didn't help that most of them seemed set against making it easy on him, not that Starscream made it easy on himself either.
There was still that deep seated hurt buried deep in the seekers spark; angry and raw and it led to more than one outburst of hurt feelings that needed to be soothed. They were doing better, to a degree, but it was still going to take time to rebuild the trine bonds to what they should be.
Thundercracker pushed amusement to his trine leader as Starscream came to stand next to the blue seeker, his frame tense as he watched Sideswipe and Danny race.
Crimson optics pinned on the frontliner and the human, Starscream suddenly sighed. "Cliffjumper has been at Skywarp again."
A dark feeling swept through Thundercracker and he could feel Callie tense on his shoulder, her narrowed blue eyes glanced up at her guardian's trine leader.
Forcing calm in to his tone, Thundercracker focused on Sideswipe's racing form. "I don't know what that littler fragger…"
"Fucker sounds better." Callie grumbled from his shoulder.
Thundercracker ignored his charge's hot, angry words. "Hates more. The fact he's Sideswipe's friend…" a miracle in of itself. "or the fact we still wear the Decepticon insignia."
Starscream snorted, awkwardly reaching out to Thundercracker through the trine bonds. The blue seeker responded in kind, trying to rebuild what they had lost.
This was at least something they could work on since most of the inhabitants of the Ark seemed to be determined to make their integration into the Autobots forces as difficult as possible, giving them some time alone. Most of the command staff, not all of course, but then Red Alert hardly trusted his own mechs, trusted the seekers. That was enough for Thundercracker for now.
Starscream shrugged, one shoulder coming up. "I hardly attempt to try to decipher what goes through Cliffjumper's processor on day to day events."
"Not a lot." Callie muttered darkly as she watched Sideswipe's speeding frame racing for the finish.
Starscream flashed a smirk at the human before it quickly dissolved back into a stoic stare. "Yes well, he can't be all that bright. He tends to pick on larger opponents like seekers or the twins." His dark helm dipped towards Sideswipe's speeding form, his crimson optics flickering to where a very annoyed Sunstreaker stood like a solid wall of ice, dark and angry.
Callie snorted, blue eyes glancing at the stop watch. "He has a habit of instigating fights with larger mechs and cries foul when they finally snap." Her eyes narrowed, darkened. "Boys like that back in the day used to get a beat down by their own crews."
Starscream's helm tipped to the side, optics glancing up as he thought. "We could arrange that."
A very un-lady like snort broke from Callie, accompanied by the nasty smirk that spread across her lips at the thought.
Crossing his arms over his cockpit, Starscream sighed, bored. "So, they're finally going to beat their record are they?"
Callie grinned up at Thundercracker triumphantly, the trine leader confused when he felt annoyance from his trine mate.
Changing the subject, Thundercracker glanced at Starscream. "Have the human's been making any more of a stink about relocating the girls?"
Starscream shrugged, watching Sideswipe making the final run. For the past three weeks, Mearing had been demanding that the girls be relocated. Not even to a base, just merely what the humans called a safe house.
Safe house, Thundercracker's aft. It would put the girls out there, on their own, far from his protection.
The hell that would happen and so far, General Morshower had managed to find reasons as to why the girls were considered to not be a waste of good resources, but a more permanent solution needed to be found, and fast.
Starscream was Thundercracker's inside mech on the on goings of the command staff; although the seeker only had authority over his trine, Optimus had been true to his word and made Starscream a commander of sorts.
Although he had no other power, still had to listen to not only Optimus, but Prowl and Jazz as well, Starscream at least got to listen in on most of the commanders meetings. He still had to prove himself to the others, prove this wasn't some sick ruse to get inside the Autobot base and kill them all.
So far, for the most part, Starscream was actually behaving himself and thus far got along surprisingly well with the Prime. Thundercracker was sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that, unlike Megatron, Optimus listened to what Starscream was saying and not so much too how he was saying it.
Starscream, naturally, was still an insufferable glitch, but he brought a certain perceptive that even the Autobots wouldn't be so foolish to pass up.
As though merely thinking his name could summoned the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime suddenly appeared at the finish line of the course, moving with easy grace to the small group as Sideswipe came screaming towards them; Danny pushing his engine, his alt form as hard as it could go.
Thundercracker nodded to his leader, not his master, his leader, while Callie grinned up at him. Happy that the Prime had kept his word.
"Prime." Starscream nodded, his tone almost mocking. "I didn't think you had the time to come watch your little frontliner race."
Thundercracker stiffened, as did Starscream; old habits die hard, and too often Starscream's sarcastic remarks got him beaten, hurt, when he went one step too far with Megatron.
Optimus Prime however, was not Megatron. The Prime was an endless pool of patience and calm serenity, his armor barley bristling at Starscream's ridicule. "Normally I do not Starscream. Sideswipe was supposed to be on duty ten minutes ago."
"How quaint, the mighty Prime has to retrieve his frontliner." Starscream could just not help it.
Thundercracker cringed, inwardly rolling his optics at Starscream's behaviour as he tormented Optimus. Trying to push him, to see if the was as noble, as calm as everyone said he was.
"Not normally, however Jazz is off on a mission at the moment and Prowl is dealing with Cliffjumper." Soft blue optics floated down to crimson. "I hope you will speak to Skywarp about not looking for retribution for Cliffjumper's actions."
Startled, Starscream glanced up at his Prime before looking away and Thundercracker could feel his trine leader's confusion.
::He respects you.:: Thundercracker supplied.
::But why?::
::Because he wants to trust you Starscream. He has faith that you will be the commander we all know you can be.::
An odd sort of embarrassment suddenly rushed through his commander's systems as Starscream did all he could from dropping his optics. It saddened Thundercracker to see how badly Megatron had beaten down his ego so much so, that a simple complement could produce that kind of reaction from the seeker.
Thundercracker knew that Prime was good for Starscream in that way; he was kind and fair and actually listened to his commanders. Prime kept him grounded, pushed the seeker when he needed it but backed off when the time was right.
Ignoring his trine mate, Starscream nodded to the Prime. "I will see to it."
Optimus nodded; glad to make it through a single conversation that didn't end with Starscream yelling at him. Although, and Optimus would never, ever admit this to anyone, he was amused by the seeker's reaction when Optimus himself didn't react at all to Starscream's outbursts.
Optimus nodded in return to the seeker. "Thank you Starscream."
Thundercracker felt another burst of pride at the Prime's thanks, again, something that Megatron never did.
Sideswipe finally came screaming up, his engine pulsing hard as Danny yanked on the E-brake, spinning the frontliner's alt form so that the driver door was facing the group. The human barely had time to leap from the crimson Lambo as her passenger dissolved from view as Sideswipe transformed smoothly, both yelling "Time!?"
Callie grinned as she hit the stop watch, and Optimus gave Sideswipe a moment to discover if they had actually broken their record. The blonde cleared her throat, grinning at the faces of suspended joy and excitement from her cousin and the Autobot.
"You shaved a whole two seconds from your time."
For a moment, the pair looked surprised at the blonde before they exploded in high laughter and cheering and Danny double high fived Sideswipe's servos in congratulations as the pair laughed again.
The seekers and the Prime watched the pair, amusement hidden by their different masks, before Optimus cleared his throat. "Sideswipe, are you not supposed to be on the communications deck?"
The dirty, grimy frontliner stopped, paused as he thought about that for a moment, considering what day it was before a strangled squeak broke from his chest. The joy drained from his face plates and without another word or noise, the crimson frontliner turned and ran for the base, heading for the communications deck. Blaster was no doubt waiting for him to start his shift.
Danny's amused laughter followed the frontliner's sudden departure as Optimus sighed and shook his helm, Starscream staring almost dumbfounded at the scene.
"You lead a lot of sparklings Prime." The tri-coloured seeker sighed, shaking his helm.
Optimus fought the snort that begged to be released, thankful that his grin was at least hidden by the battle mask he wore. "I am painfully aware of this Starscream but bear in mind that most of my mechs were civilians or younglings before the war. They don't have the training most of the Decepticon's have."
Crimson optics rolled. "Please Prime. I was a youngling at the beginning of the war. You lead a bunch of sparklings." His mocking tone turned to almost awe. "How have you managed to survive, keep your Autobot's alive and keep Megatron at bay for so long?"
Amusement flickered through Optimus at the seeker's words. "Sometime's Starscream, I wonder myself."
Thundercracker managed to wrestle the smirk from his face, keeping it plainly neutral as he felt a shudder of surprise flicker through his trine leader at the Prime's almost teasing tone. Megatron would never had bantered with Starscream like this, never would have bothered to play with words; a battle field that Starscream always would rule.
With the seeker's momentary silence, Optimus used his opportunity to get a word in before something else happened, something actually related to their lives. Pulling his data pad from subspace, the Prime handed it to the seeker. "These are the plans that have been presented for the seeker's hanger, they'll be closer to the Arielbots than you had said you wanted to be, but we have little choice at the moment."
Plucking the data pad from the outstretched servo, Starscream turned the screen on, crimson optics studying on the designs. Thundercracker couldn't stop the new grin that built on his face from the warm feeling that mixed with confusion from his trine leader.
Although he had never said it, Starscream thrived on appreciation and acknowledgement and whether or not the Prime knew it, these little moments were winning Starscream over.
Voice even, as though nothing was amiss, Starscream commented. "There's enough room for more seekers?"
Optimus nodded, "As you asked. I'm just not sure if it's enough, you seemed confident that if we can get word to Cyberton other seekers may be willing to join."
A moment of dismay flicked across the seeker's face before it returned to its normal grimace. "It's hard to say. Just because we were dumb enough to leave Megatron's fold doesn't mean that others will be. Possible, yes, but it's difficult to judge who would follow us here."
Optimus nodded, hoping against all odds that Starscream could bring more seekers to their side, turn the tide of war and end it once and for all. The Decepticons had always ruled the air, but now with the Decepticon air commander standing with the Prime, maybe, just maybe, others would be willing to follow.
The Prime's blue optics studied the Decepticon seeker as he continued to study the data pad; another reason for having the seekers join them, was simply to get Starscream away from Megatron.
The seeker, although still angry and glitched, had calmed in the few weeks he had been there. Starscream was intelligent, cunning in ways that Optimus never could be, had an honest want to be useful and just wanted to go home and do right by Cyberton. With the right guidance and encouragement, Starscream really could be the terror of the skies, a brutal air commander that could not be beaten.
That, Optimus was sure, was what Megaton feared. He wanted, liked, the seeker beaten down, weak and his alone. Starscream had been staggered by his own hatred for his previous master, and Megatron had played on the seeker's emotion.
The Matrix called to the Prime to protect the seeker, keep him away from the crazed titan and allow him to heal and Optimus was more than happy to comply with that; the trine leader and his trine had been so wrecked when they came to the Ark, both emotionally and physically, that Optimus couldn't help but want to help.
And he did the best he could with what he had.
Starscream glanced up again, crimson optics bright and healthy. "We need to discuss this further."
Optimus nearly grinned, there was no question in his tone, and the Prime nodded. "I figured you'd like to. We can go to my office to discuss it."
Fear suddenly shot through Starscream and his wings shot high as an old fear ripped through him, strong enough that even Thundercracker could feel it. The blue seeker instantly shot comfort back to this leader, letting him know he was there too, he wasn't going anywhere.
Gratitude shot back from Starscream and once again, Optimus proved himself to be a more capable leader than Megatron for recognising the signs of the seeker's discomfort. The tight plating, the too high wings that splayed wide; the fear of being trapped in a small room with no wind or room to move and fly unnerving him. Megatron likely knew these signs too, playing on them cruelly.
Optimus used these signs to put Starscream at ease. "If you are comfortable with this, of course."
Plating and wings instantly relaxed, and Starscream seemed to deflate to his normal state of annoyance. A choice, a way out is what Optimus was giving him. He didn't have to go with the Prime, if he didn't want to.
Taking on his usual air of sarcasm and annoyance, Starscream snorted. "Of course I am comfortable with this Prime! I am not a sparkling that needs to be coddled." He sneered, his bravado a front for the fear that had just plagued him.
Without another word, the Prime nodded for Starscream to go in first, the trine leader snarling and stomping past him. With an amused shake of his helm, Optimus followed the seeker, praying to Primus that Starscream would behave and they could get through this little chat without the seeker yelling at him, again.
As the pair entered the Ark, Danny laughed, still by Thundercracker's pede. "How long do you think before Starscream jumps OP?"
Defensiveness shot through Thundercracker. The idea of Starscream and the Prime set the blue seeker's denta grinding. Starscream wasn't ready for that kind of relationship; he was barely moving on from what Megatron did to him.
The distinct growl from the blue seeker dragged another laugh from Danny. "Believe it or not TC, but I'm calling it now."
The growling reduced to the grumbling sound of an unhappy engine and Callie's blue optics rolled. "Danny, really?"
The car thief shrugged. "I am just saying."
Callie's eyes bore down at her cousin's grinning face. "Shouldn't you be harassing someone else?"
"Optimus took my playmate. What I am supposed to do now?" She asked in mock sadness.
Callie sighed, "I dunno. And before you ask, no, I will not be your playmate, I have plans with TC to go flying."
Danny tutted at her cousin. "How easily you've replaced me."
"Yes well, I barely tolerate you, and love TC. It wasn't really that hard to replace you." Callie playfully mocked without missing a beat, grinning down at her cousin from Thundercracker's shoulder.
Warmth spread from Thundercracker's chest; glad he still held the human's favour, even after all that had happened.
Danny laughed, shooting her cousin a rude hand gesture, one of her favourites if Thundercracker guessed right. "Whatever Cal. Have a good flight or whatever nonsense you're doing. I think I'm going to go work on the Shelby."
Red optics and blue eyes rolled. It had taken a lot of begging, pleading and a throwing of a tantrum to get the Shelby to the base. Ultimately, it had been decided that the broken down car would keep Danny busy and out of everyone's hair. Idle hands are the devils plaything, or some such nonsense, had convince Mearing to allow Danny space in one of the Nest issued garage bays.
Callie laughed; a high and happy sound that Thundercracker was glad to hear. "Good luck with that."
Danny turned, heading to the NEST garage, waving over her shoulder as she walked away from the seeker and his charge.
Thundercracker tipped his helm a little closer to his human with a sigh. "I heard she was fixing the car to buy back the horses."
Callie sighed, leaning a little into his helm, her body relaxed on his shoulder. "Yeah I know. I don't think she'll get enough to get both back and find a place to board them, but it's keeping her busy. So who am I to tell her not to?"
There was a distinct sadness in the girl's voice, and it made the seeker frown. He knew that Callie wanted her horse back, missed Patches as much as Lucy missed Cinderella and it made Thundercracker's spark ache that he couldn't help her with this. "A pity Swindle isn't here. He could have gotten the horses and kept the Shelby whilst likely making a profit at the same time."
Confusion drawing her away from her sadness, Callie frowned at her blue guardian. "Who's Swindle?"
A smile flickered across the seeker's pale face. "He's ah...a con-mech. A slagger if I ever met one, but if you ever need to move product, Swindle can do it for you."
Callie giggled. "And this was an old team mate?"
"Team mate is a loose term." This time Thundercracker couldn't fight the smirk that spread across his face.
Smiling seemed to be contagious as Callie mirrored his grin. "Was there anyone you got along with?"
The seeker snorted. "Let's get into the sky and I'll tell you some Nemesis stories."
Callie laughed, her voice high and happy as the blue seeker transformed, encasing Callie safely in his cockpit as he rocketed into the sky; her small body pressing into the seat of his alt mode as he took off.
This was one of his favourite parts of the day, flying with Callie and telling her stories from his time with the Decepticons. He could tell her the good and the bad, knowing he was safe from judgment. Callie was his friend and she loved him like the brother she never had.
"This one time, just after the Combaticons woke up here on Earth," his easy voice rumbled over the small speakers inside his alt mode, amusement colouring his tone. "Swindle tried to sell Skywarp a fake gaming consol, he called the Play-X four..."
()()()
Sunstreaker watched his twin run to his shift, ten minutes late, again.
The gold twin then watched his Prime talk with the bloody seekers that had followed the stupid humans back to the Ark and an unsettled rage grew from the frontliner's chest, spreading out from his spark. So much had changed in the last six weeks and things had changed for the worse, in his opinion.
Seekers were living at the Ark along with a handful of humans that they didn't know. Humans that were friends with the slagging seekers! Humans who were nothing more than glorified pets, civilians!
Sunstreaker did not like it, not one damned bit. He didn't trust the flying slaggers as far as he could throw them, didn't like them on his base. The Autobot wasn't comfortable with having them so close and he despised that his brother seemed to make friends so easily with the fraggers, who just weeks before, they had been hunting for and fighting with.
Hatred swelled within the gold mech as he watched from a distance with anger in his spark, as Prime followed Starscream into the Ark. Watched the blue fragger joke and tease the human femmes that were suddenly living there, when they really should have been shipped out weeks ago.
Most of all he hated, loathed, the human called Danny who had not only stolen his brother when she thought he was nothing but a car, but had stolen his damned processor, Sunstreaker was sure. He had no clue to why his twin liked to play with the human; Skywarp at least he could almost understand, but the human?
It was a fragging joke. A sick fragging joke that desperately needed to end, would end if Sunstreaker had anything to do with it.
With a snarl, the golden mech peeled himself off the Ark`s wall and stormed after the human femme as she seemed to almost skip to the humans garage. Her happiness, her joy, the fact she was happy to be there, just angered Sunstreaker all the more.
He ground his denta until he could taste metal shavings and cursing, the front liner snarled at the human. "Flesh bag!"
Danny ignored him as she started humming some off tune song. Whether she was ignoring him or just didn't hear him, it was hard to say, but either way he hated her all the more. If she ignored him, then she was an insolent little glitch that needed to be taught her place and if she just didn't hear him, it was because she was a squashy flash bag, created with inferior parts. While he could hear for miles, if he tuned his audio sensitivity up as high as he could, she likely could only hear a few meters around her.
Primus he hated humans.
Snarling again, not bothering to keep his rage in check, Sunstreaker yelled louder at her. "Flesh bag!"
The girl didn't slow her pace, her small feet kicking up dust as she continued her walk to the garage but she did glance over her shoulder, brown eyes hardening when she saw his large gold frame marching stiffly towards her.
Her smile hardened, turned sharp and nasty. She disliked him as much as he disliked her; the fact he went out of his way to make her suffer, to upset her more likely the reason for this. The girl however, needed to realize that Sideswipe was his twin, and he did not like to share.
"What do you want Sunstreaker?" Danny barked at him, turning her attention back ahead of her.
He didn't bother to hide the snarl that bubbled from his chest. "Why bother!?" He snapped angry and hot at her. "Why bother to fix that scrap car of yours when it's worth nothing."
Her brown eyes narrowed up at him as he fell in line next to her, his hard words cutting at her more than she was willing to admit. "What…" she snapped back, unafraid, "would you know about it?"
"Apparently, more than you." His icy optics narrowed on her, cold and cruel. "Since I know that you'll never be able to buy the flea bags back for your dumb cousin."
Danny hid the flash of hurt that bolted through her small body while her hands balled into tight fists. "I'm surprised that you even know a word as big as apparently Sunstreaker." She forced her tone to turn mocking through sheer force of will. "According to most of the Ark, you're too dumb to string more than a few words together."
The large Autobot snarled at her, his optics flashing red in his anger before chilling back to blue. "Watch your tone flesh bag. It'd be a shame to step on you."
Perhaps not a shame, but it would upset his twin if he killed the girl; all he wanted was to see her cry. To see the little glitch break down, it would give him a certain degree of satisfaction.
"Ohhh! I'm so fucking scared of you Sunstreaker!" she mocked him, wiggling her fingers up at him in her ridicule.
The thought and urge to step on her grew but the knowledge of how it would hurt Sideswipe kept him from doing it. Instead, he did the only thing he could do to hurt her, since he couldn't punch her without killing her. "What I would be concerned about is how you're going to deal with your cousins after you crush their little feelings when you're unable to get back the four legged flea bags."
The girl drew to a stop, tipping her head up to glare at him, her small fists tightening while her rage was naked on her small face.
A thrill shot through Sunstreaker; good, let the little glitch be angry at him.
"That's not true." She sneered.
"It is." He hissed back at her, his tone cold. "You'll never get the horses back, and it'll just be another failure to add to your ever growing list."
Danny snarled like an animal at him, wordlessly and angry, allowing him to continue.
"Nearly getting Mia killed, couldn't keep your garage from going up in flames and now you won't be able to get the flea bags back for your cousin." The front liner mocked the human as he reeled off the list.
"Blow it out your ass Sunstreaker." Danny hissed up at him, her brown eyes dark with her rage, helpless to do anything about it.
The golden Autobot grinned down at her, his smirk nasty and cold. "You're pathetic Danny. You couldn't even keep your own family safe. You had to rely on slagging Decepticon's to save your cousin and your sister."
Hurt and rage mingled in her eyes as Danny battled to keep the emotion from spilling out. Instead of breaking down, like Sunstreaker had hoped for, Danny internally gathered herself as she drew up a little taller, her eyes hardening. "And you're so pathetic, you're own twin abandoned you for a human."
Shock rippled through his frame at the human's cold words, his armor bristling and puffing out in his anger while he bared his denta at the girl. His silence allowed Danny to continue. "Why else would your own twin ditch you and hang out with me?"
Hurt ricocheted through the frontliner; the real source of the golden Autobot's anger, his sadness. His own twin, his other half, had indeed dropped him to hang out with the inferior human. A pathetic little femme who had no armor, could die far too easily, and hadn't been able to help save Sideswipe's life when he had needed her the most, during the battle of L.A.
Sideswipe had almost died protecting her and her family, and Danny couldn't do anything to save the crimson frontliner. She was small, squishy and pathetic. Yet, his twin chose to spend his down time with her and not him.
Smugness radiated off the human, she knew she had struck a chord with the frontliner, had hit something sensitive within him and had done if far quicker and with far more efficiency than he. If there was one thing Sunstreaker had learned about human femmes it was this, most of them spent their entire lives not on a physical battle field, but an emotional one and they were masters of their could crush her without thought and with ease, the golden mech knew that, but she could make him hurt just as badly. Danny knew his one weakness and was going to exploit it, even with Sideswipe as her friend, just to hurt him.
An animalist growl rumbled along with the revving of his engine, low and dangerous. "Listen you little glitch, stay away from Sideswipe.""Or what!?" Danny hissed back.
The golden frontliner glared down at her, getting a little closer to her small body, bearing down on her as he tried to intimidate her. The human tried to make herself look larger, taller than she was, stretching her spine as long as it would go, her fists still balled.
"Or I'm going to…"
"Danielle! Sunstreaker!" Jazz's angry voice suddenly shot out as he came down the walkway from the human's garage. The smaller 'bot was marching quickly to them, visor dark in anger. "Ah thought Ah told you two ta stop wit' the fighting!"
Both the human and the Cybertronian backed down. Sunstreaker's armor bristling, flattening, both of them their balled fists relaxing and the pair stepped away from each other, anger still clear in their eyes.
"Thought you were away on a mission Jazz." Sunstreaker snarled; a declaration rather than a question.
The dark blue visor narrowed on the frontliner, projecting as much cold hostility as Sunstreaker did broiling rage. "Just got back. Was intending ta give Prowl his report when Ah heard ya two bickering like sparklings."
The icy visor shifted to glare down at the human below him, her brown eyes still narrowed on golden armor. "And Ah've just about had it wit' all this fighting between the pair of ya. It ends t'day." The light behind the visor flashed, his gaze shifting to glare at Sunstreaker again. "Do Ah make mahself clear?"
Blue optics narrowed on the girl. "Yes sir."
Brown eyes never wavered. "Sure Jazz, whatever you say."
The sub commander let them glare at each other a beat longer, before he snapped. "Git going, the pair of ya. I don' wan'ta see either of ya wit'in a hundred yards o' each other fer the rest of the day. Do ya both understand me?"
There was another soft grumble of understanding from the pair of them, a snarl from Sunstreaker and a snort from Danny.
"Good." Jazz's tone was cold and angry, his engine rumbling in displeasure. "Now git!"
Sunstreaker snarled. "Failure."
Exasperated, Jazz snapped at the warrior. "Sunstreaker!"
Danny snorted back. "Pathetic."
"Danny!"
The pair glared at each other a beat longer, angry and hard before they turned and marched away from each other; Sunstreaker to the Ark and Danny to the garage.
Shaking his helm, Jazz sighed. He was too tired for this nonsense. He had spent far too much time away on this mission, as far as Jazz was concerned, and what he found out was disheartening. He just wanted to find Prowl, deliver his report then crawl into a warm berth with his mate.
Jazz certainly didn't want to come home to Sunstreaker and Danny fighting with each other, again.
Sighing again, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of his mission, the weight of the information he carried, the terror he suspected, Jazz was done for the day. Straightening up, giving the look of a true commander, Jazz tried to not let his pedes drag as he headed to the Ark, determined to make it to at least Prowl's office before he passed out.
()()()
Danny marched to the garage with more force than necessary. Unable to bottle her hurt and rage she quietly cursed, kicking up a dirt cloud in her annoyance. She wanted to scream, to rage, to punch Sunstreaker right in his pretty boy face; yet unlike every other asshole she had ever dealt with, he was not only much larger than she, but made of metal. Any damage she could inflict on him would have to be done with a blow torch or heavy gun fire.
Still, the thought of someone slapping that smug look off his face brought a measure of pleasure to the human. There had to be someone she could convince to do it, she couldn't be the only one annoyed by him.
Prowl and Blaster were walking by, helms down, studying a data pad. The Autobot SIC was talking in a hushed voice to the communications specialist. "It was a drone Blaster, I'm sure that's what I saw."
The wide plated boom box sighed. "It can't be. That would mean..."
"I am aware of what that would mean Blaster. But I am sure this is what I saw." There was such certainty in Prowl's tone, no room for uncertainty in the Autobot's organized mind.
Blaster's blue optics glanced up from the pad and at his commander. "How do we stop them, if this is what we think it is?"
"Best way to stop drones is to take out their master, in any way possible. They will be linked to whoever controls them, and if they die, the drones go with them."
"What about confusion? If you were able to surprise or confuse the master, would the drone react in the same way?"
Prowl considered the thought for a moment, blue optics going hazy in thought as his battle processor analyzed the information, meanwhile Danny slowed her angry storming to hear the answer. "There is a ninety five percent chance that this is a correct theory Blaster. From the information I have, I would be comfortable to say it would be an effective way to battle drones if backed into a corner."
Blaster nodded, his helm dipping back down to study the data pad, allowing Prowl to continue. "We need to wait for Jazz and speak to him before we make too many assumptions. He has already arrived back on base and should be in my office."
Blaster nodded, his usually joyous face set into a grim frown. Heaving a sigh, Danny quickened her light steps, hurrying away from the commanders, nearly running to the garage that she often found her refuge.
Storming into the small building, Danny threw open the heavy metal door, using all her strength to shove it open, relieved that the garage was empty, that no one was around to witness her anger and break down. Tears suddenly welled at her brown eyes, tears she desperately tried to blink away.
Glancing at the broken down Shelby, still riddled with bullet holes and broken glass, her tears welled harder, fatter. She'd never fix it in the right amount of time to buy the horses back and the sad reality was that she'd never get enough money to get the horses back, not both of them, and certainly not with enough to rent a stable for them to live. She was a failure, just as Sunstreaker said she was.
Not only could Danny not get the horses back for her cousins, she couldn't protect her family in their much more frightening new world; they were forced to rely on the generosity of others and that never worked out well.
Danny's angry tears welled further, a single one sliding down her smooth cheek before she ruthlessly rubbed it away. Scrubbing at her face with the back of her hand, Danny took a deep, shaky breath, gathering her thoughts. Her hands curled into tight balls, her nails biting into the flesh of her palm as her regret, her hurt turned to anger and hate; and Primus, did she ever hate Sunstreaker. The sob that could have broken from her chest in her sadness came out as a growl from her aggression.
How dare he! How dare that golden plated bastard talk to her like that! She could dismantle him if she had the chance, strip him of his armor and sell it on eBay. She had the skills and she had means; she had the will to do what needed to be done to get what she wanted.
A familiar calm slowly came over her, turning her rage inward, turning it cold. Huffing an angry sigh, Danny's brown eyes slid over the cars in the garage, over the red beaten form of the Shelby and the broken forms of the damaged military vehicles, before landing on Epps's navy blue and black Suzuki. The motorcycle had just had an oil change and was begging to be taken out.
Brown eyes blinked at the bike, the cogs in Danny's head turning over a plan, going over all the details. Knowing, with all she was, that Callie would have her head if she followed through with her crazy plan, but Sunstreaker's hurtful, emotionally charged words echoed back in her head, hardening her resolve, making her want to follow through on her crazy plan.
Callie would be furious with her, but she would prove to everyone that she wasn't a failure, that she wasn't pathetic. She had talents and she knew how to make fast money; she knew how to make a lot of fast, dirty, money.
Eyes narrowed on the crotch rocket before glancing at the large bay doors and back to the bike. She would be able to make the money to get the horses back, and then some. She still had friends who were always looking for another booster, and it wouldn't be permanent, she told herself. Just to make enough money to buy the horses back.
Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought while adrenalin flushed through her veins, making everything seem brighter than it was. This was a bad idea, a betrayal of trust to Callie, to whom she promised to not steal anymore, and to Epps, whose bike she was planning on stealing.
Yet, she argued with herself. Callie would forgive her if she came back with the money to get the horses back and Epps couldn't be angry forever, so long as she brought his bike back; it was borrowing it really, not stealing if she intended on returning it.
Danny glanced at the work bench closest to the bike, the black polished helmet sitting there. It would be too big but she would make do. Glancing back to the bike, the girl nodded to herself. This was a bad plan, she knew it, but she would rub this in Sunstreaker's face that, yes, she could in fact take care of her family.
Mind made up, and before she could talk herself out of her foolish idea, Danny made a beeline for the bike, snagging the helmet off the table. The Suzuki was too big for her, but again, she'd make do, and she slipped the helmet onto her small head.
Readjusting the brown leather jacket so that is sat right over her small body, Danny prised open the panel she was looking for and hotwired the bike, grinning when it started and purred like a cat; light and powerful, again, begging to be taken out.
A sudden bolt of old fear, of being caught, made her fast, light on her feet as she ran for the big bay door, hauling it open with the dangling chain. Rushing back to the bike, Danny threw one leg over the side and righting it, she kicked back the kick stand.
Easing the bike from the garage, not even bothering to close the door behind her, Danny slowly rolled to the gate. She wasn't a prisoner here, she was able to go when she choose to; granted she was suppose to have Lennox or Mearing's permission to do so, but the ranger guarding the gate didn't even blink at her when she flicked up the visor of the helmet and offered a smile.
The guard didn't bother to stop her when he saw it was Danny as she often went out for drives just to get away from base for a while, usually with Sideswipe. She never went far or went out for too long.
Snapping the visor down when the gate was opened, the red haired girl gunned the throttle, becoming a blur as she rocketed away and down the road, not once looking back at the shrinking base.
()()()
For seven days they worried about Danny and wondered on her whereabouts. She had left with only the clothes on her back and the money in her pocket. Her cell phone had been found in the NEST issued quarters so she was untraceable from both Liz, and the other NEST hackers.
Once she hit the high way, Danny was out of NESTs range and their cameras. They had managed to track Robert Epps's bike all the way to the major highway, but with the way the highways connected, the thief could have gone anywhere.
Callie, panic stricken and angry, suspected she would have gone back to their old hunting grounds in Las Vegas, but until they had some form of proof of that, it was speculation at best.
They had also reported the bike as stolen, hoping that maybe the police in whatever city she was in would pick her up. But as Callie explained, Danny was a professional car thief, she wouldn't be so stupid as to leave the original plates on a stolen bike, and had more than likely changed them by now.
Thus far, Callie seemed to be spot on in her assumption since they hadn't received any calls from police saying they had arrested the thief.
Tension in the Ark grew, the happy feelings curdling. When the question why Danny had left was asked, it had been Jazz who had answered, telling them how she and Sunstreaker fought, the bitter words that passed between them.
Callie and her cousins blamed Sunstreaker for her leaving, fair or not, their anger was directed solely at the gold frontliner; it had been his nasty words that had caused the car thief to leave in a huff.
It seemed that whatever upset Callie's delicate senses would in turn upset her seeker guardian, which in turn would upset the trine. Sunstreaker however, would simply ignore the dirty looks the others shot him, wouldn't let it bother him. He had gotten rid of the little glitch and if she was too weak to put up with his comments, then she didn't deserve to be there.
This was a wonderful thing for Sunstreaker really, he got his twin back and life should have returned to normal. Should have however, seemed to be the saying of the year. Sideswipe, upon hearing that it had been his twins' angry words, feeling his twins' deep seeded jealousy and insecurity that had chased his new friend away, had promptly snapped the bond shut in his anger and started recharging in his own berth, if he recharged in their room at all.
No amount of prodding, poking and near begging from Sunstreaker had gotten Sideswipe to soften or peel back the tight block on their bonds. So great was the crimson twin's anger that Sideswipe wouldn't even speak to Sunstreaker, firmly ignoring his twin on all levels.
Sideswipe's reaction made Sunstreaker all the more surly, angry, causing him to snap at anyone who dared get too close, taking it out on everyone around him. It hurt the golden warrior even more because his twin turned his back on him, again choosing the human over him.
The anger, the hurt, the unsettled emotions spread throughout the Ark like a virus, affecting one Autobot after another, as well as the humans one by one, until it all came to a head one morning during breakfast; the small period between the ending night shift and the starting day shift, where almost everyone was present save a few of the command staff and the skeleton crew monitoring for attack.
Callie stormed into the mess hall, a news paper clutched tightly in her hand, Mia and Aleyah nearly jogging to keep up with her quick pace. She marched past her alarmed looking seeker, past the suddenly interested Prime and well past Lennox who was waiting for her to have breakfast with him.
Instead Callie marched right to where Sunstreaker sat alone; his optics pinned on a data pad, ignoring the world around him as the blonde stormed up to him, the news paper crumpling in her small hand. Thundercracker shot to his pedes when he saw Callie, his little charge, marching up to the already unhinged twin, her dark blue eyes narrowed on the golden mech, angry and rage filled.
Hurling the news paper at the Autobot, it barley hit his knee, barley touched him. Yet the room stilled, becoming silent as some watched on in a state of awe and shock as Sunstreaker's icy blue optics slid from his data pad to glare at the foolish human who would dare attack him.
Before he could get a word in, the blonde snapped at him. "You big mouthed bastard!"
Blue optics narrowed, sharp and angry as a deep growl left the frontliner accompanied with the low, heavy rev of a powerful engine. "Watch your tone fleshling."
Thundercracker was suddenly at Callie's side, armor puffed out, weapons humming should the frontliner try anything stupid. Human blue eyes narrowed on the large frontliner, her younger cousins worried and frightened by her side. "You've no idea what you've done!" She hissed up at him.
A silent snarl cut across Sunstreaker's face, angry and hateful as the blonde glared back up at him, unwavering in her stance.
"What are you on about now?"
"Callie." Optimus's smooth voice, calm and patient, interrupted the brewing fight. "Has Danny turned up?"
Her darkened eyes sliding slowly away from the bristling frontliner, Callie turned to look at the Prime, her glance darting for a moment to Lennox before returning to the Optimus. "Sort of." She bent and picked up the scattered newspaper.
Her pretty, petit face formed an angry frown while the other Autobot's gathered around to see what she was holding up. Sunstreaker felt a pang of sadness as his crimson twin shouldered his way behind Skywarp, the bond still blocked, still ignoring his sullen twin.
Optimus sighed, and Lennox groaned at the headline that Callie presented them. "But I know that she is pissed."
The headline read 'Thieves targeting Yellow cars in the Las Vegas area'.
"No doubt that whoever she's working with, or for, she's told them to go after yellow cars just so she can watch them be torn apart." Callie hissed; her voice angry and cold.
"Or to tear it apart herself." Mia added, her voice unusually small and hesitant, not wanting to upset her cousin any more, her own worry for her sister feeding into Callie's.
The blonde sighed, her eyes shooting to Thundercracker and he could see her worry, her fear and it renewed his anger towards not only Danny, but Sunstreaker as well.
Suddenly blue optics rolled, and Sunstreaker snorted, his massive arms crossing over his chest. "That's speculation that she's there. There's no proof she's even in Vegas."
Callie spun back around to face the golden mech, her face one again contorted into rage. "Are you kidding!? She's stealing yellow cars and pretending it's you! Don't be so damned delusional!"
Sunstreaker snarled down at the girl, causing Thundercracker's engine to rumble in anger, taking a step closer to his human charge, his calm face unable to hide his flaring EM field and anger.
"I'm not yellow." Sunstreaker hissed at the girl, knowing his argument was petty at best. "I'm gold."
Callie blinked up at him, her anger melting into stunned disbelief. "Really! Really Sunstreaker? You're fucking gold!" her head shook, blond hair pulled back into a short pony tail swinging back and forth, "Bloody moron."
Huffing, the blonde pushed past the tightly knitted group, marching back towards the exit of the mess hall with her cousins and Lennox hot on her heels. The seeker trine, Sideswipe, Optimus and surprisingly Smokescreen, hesitated for a moment, giving the humans a moment to get ahead so that the smaller beings wouldn't have to run to keep up them before following them. Meanwhile, Blaster ushered everyone else back to their meals.
Tossing another angry look over her shoulder, Callie pinned a glare at Sunstreaker. "I'm going to have to clean up your mess now. Thanks a lot Sunstreaker."
Bristling, Sunstreaker chased after her, his armor shifting in his anger. "Wait one second! What do you mean my mess?"
Not bothering to slow her pace, Callie snapped. "Well it's your fault that she left and we can't leave her out there. No doubt the little idiot will get herself killed! So I'm going to have to go find her now! So yeah, your fault and I'm fixing it."
Sunstreaker snarled, but Thundercracker cut in while he had the chance. "You're not going to Vegas alone." His tone was calm as they followed the girls march to the front of the Ark, the whole group stopping at the mouth of the ship.
Callie frowned up at her guardian and his flanking trine mates. "We can't leave her out there." Her worry now bled through her initial anger. "Vegas may be our city, but there are still a lot of people out there who would kill her because of the work she's done."
"Those same people," Starscream surprised everyone by adding. "Would aim to hurt you as well." Red optics flicked to his blue trine mate, worry seeping through the trine bonds.
Sideswipe, standing next to Skywarp piped up. "Then I'll go."
Everyone turned to look up at the crimson mech with surprise, the hurt in Sunstreaker echoed through the empty bond once again, disappointed that comfort didn't instantly echo back.
Confused, and not feeling his twins upset, Sideswipe blinked at the perplexed looks the others were giving him. "What? I like Danny and I've been worried too. So if Callie can't go find her, I will."
Optimus nodded, scratching at his face mask in thought. "It would be ideal to send Sideswipe. He would be able to calm her enough to escort her back."
Callie sighed again, her small shoulders drooping. "Thanks Sides, but I don't think you'd find her."
The crimson mech frowned, his metal brows pulling in his confusion and it increased Sunstreaker's annoyance. "She's just a human, I'm sure anyone of us could find her."
Callie's livid gaze landed on the frontliner. "Unless you know where to look, you'd never find her."
Sunstreaker's heavy engine rumbled, low and angry but he was ignored as Sideswipe questioned the human. "Then how would I look for her?"
Callie sighed, glancing down. "It would depend on who hired her. If she's working free lance for a chop shop, who knows where she is, she'd be all over the city. But if she's picked up a couple of contracts, she's likely to only be in one area of the city."
Mia huffed as well, her thin arms crossing under her bosom. "And if the newspaper was right, she'll be doing a mix of both, so she'll be all over the city."
Lennox frowned, brows furrowing. "What about a schedule? Will she have a routine?"
Callie and Mia shared a look while Aleyah shifted uncomfortably, it was Mia who answered. "No. We could never keep a regular schedule. If we had we would have been traceable to other gangs, crews, and the police. So she'll be working at all hours of the day and will work until she drops, then sleep."
"And she'll find the smallest, crappiest motel to crash in. One where she'll pay with cash and no one will ask questions." Callie added.
Starscream frowned, red optics focusing on Callie. "Where would she get the cash? She left with nothing."
Callie and Mia shared another glance before the blonde looked back up at the seeker leader, surprised that he had taken an interest, more than likely on behalf of his trine mate. "Probably from the first job she pulled. She would have done something quick that would get her enough money to pay for some kind of lodging, a bit of food and some throw away clothes that she could wear while she's working."
"So, what you're really saying is…" Skywarp suddenly added, his own little frown present on his face plates. "That we have no way to track her, since she'll be using cash and knows the city better than us. And being all over the place at all hours of the day, by the time we get wind of where she might be, she'll be long gone when we get there."
"Basically." Callie confirmed. "But I, at least, will know where she is likely going to be. I know which people she will go to for work. I am the most logical choice to go find Danny."
"No." Thundercracker said firmly, his helm shaking, "It's too dangerous." He nodded to the crimson frontliner. "Sideswipe can find her."
"Thundercracker." Callie sighed, her shoulders drooping low again. "I've managed to stay alive for this long without you constantly guarding me. I think I could survive a few days."
The blue seeker shifted uncomfortably, his helm shaking in the negative again. "No. It's still too dangerous." And I'd spend the whole time worried sick about you.
One didn't have to be a mind reader, or a trine member to know that the lieutenant wouldn't let Callie go alone.
"You can't go with her." Starscream said firmly, regret filling the bond between them despite his hard words. "We are still not accepted among the Autobot ranks, it will only further push us out if you leave now. Besides, Lennox wants us to keep a low profile. A blue jet doing flybys over a major city is not what I would call low profile."
Thundercracker frowned at his trine leader, his upset clear along the trine and the spark bonds.
"Then I'll go find her." Sideswipe emphasized, his servo spreading over his red chest plates. "Danny likes me. She won't bolt if it's just me."
Mia looked up at the crimson twin. "But I don't think you'll find her Side's. Vegas is just too big and busy and she's just one human among thousands." The green eyed girl shook her head, curls bouncing around her face. "It will be hard enough for us to find her, and we know how she works."
Sideswipe frowned, actually upset at the girl's words; words that made Sunstreaker snort and snarl.
"Please! She's just a human, I could slagging find her on my own."
Callie and even Mia glared up at the frontliner, the blonde of the pair snapping, "Please! You wouldn't get within a hundred meters of her!"
The golden maniac snarled back. "She's just a human, it won't be that hard."
"Her being human won't make the task any easier!" Callie snapped.
Optimus watched the human and Sunstreaker bicker; it seemed that the golden mech was squabbling with everyone as of late, including his twin. He didn't respect humans, didn't see their capabilities, he only saw them as a hindrance, a liability.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if Sunstreaker could see that humans could be just as tough as any Autobot, in their own ways, maybe it would sooth the feelings of the last few days. It would give the golden mech sometime away from his twin and would serve to tracking down Danny.
"Then you will go look for her Sunstreaker." Optimus said simply, stopping all arguments.
The golden frontliner stalled, freezing at his Prime's words. "W…what?"
Optimus grinned behind his mask as his words seemed to stall even Starscream. "If you believe that tracking down a human will be such an easy task, then you will find her and bring her home, alive and unharmed."
Everyone blinked before they all started trying to yell over one another in order to protest the Prime's orders. All except Starscream, who had burst into fits of laughter, unable to stop at the ridiculousness of it all.
But, Optimus saw something in Sunsreaker, knew there was a part of him that yearned for a friend of his own. The front liner was softer than the outer armor he let everyone else see, more sensitive if his fight with his twin was any anything to go by. Optimus believed that if they would just both calm down, they had the ability to get along and he hoped this would help achieve that.
Either that or it would all blow up in his face, but it was the risk he was taking.
The Prime held up his servos, silencing all except Starscream who was almost bent double as he gasped and wheezed for air while he laughed. As everyone else stopped arguing, Optimus glanced at the tri-colored seeker and cleared his throat, pulling his attention.
"Sorry! Sorry Prime. Just, I thought you had actually suggested that you send Sunstreaker to fetch Danny." The seeker smirked at the Prime, daring him to say it again.
"I did Starscream." Optimus glanced down at Callie before pinning the gold mech with a hard look, "And Sunstreaker will fulfill his duty to the best of his ability. He will bring Danny back to the Ark unharmed, understand?" The question aimed at the frontliner.
An unhappy sound that could have been a snarl rumbled from the frontliner, but Sunstreaker jerked his chin to the Prime in an almost nod, firmly ignoring how his twin gaped at him.
"And when he fails?" Callie snapped, sounding angry.
"If he fails Callie, I will accompany you to look for her." Optimus said firmly, putting an end to all arguments.
Sideswipe stared at his twin in bewilderment as Sunstreaker snapped at Callie. "She's human! How hard is it really going to be?"
Callie grinned up at him, cold and cruel. "Vegas is Danny's city Sunstreaker. She's going to chew you up and spit you out."
"And stomp on you just for good measure." Aleyah snapped suddenly, hostile and angry.
"And scrape you off the bottom of her shoe like the piece of shit you are." Mia added, her voice light and airy, even cheerful.
Starscream's mouth actually dropped open at the girl's words as Sunstreaker growled down at her, his servos balling into tight fists of rage.
"Enough!" Optimus suddenly snapped, ending all the smirks, all the arguments. "Sunstreaker, will you be able to handle this?"
Sunstreaker snorted; his blue optics cold and icy on Callie, Mia and Aleyah. "It'll be no problem Prime. I'll have the little glitch back in a few days."
With one last glare, this time directed at his twin, Sunstreaker nodded to the Prime and dropped into his alt mode, speeding off for the gate. The small group watched on as the frontliner rocketed out of the NEST compound and down the same road Danny had used to get to the highway.
Smokescreen reminded everyone he was there as he laughed suddenly. "I bet you one hundred US dollars that he doesn't get Danny back without damage."
Callie snorted. "I'll put two hundred down that says Danny kicks Sunstreaker's ass."
Mia laughed, watching the retreating gold form. "Add another hundred into that!"
Sideswipe frowned, watching his twins' form became a spec before disappearing from sight. Guilt at being so angry with Sunstreaker for so long consumed his spark. "Perhaps I should go with him Optimus?"
"No Sideswipe, this will be good for Sunstreaker. He needs to be able to do these things on his own." Optimus said gently. Sideswipe glanced back at the empty desert sadly before retreating back inside of the Ark.
Optimus sighed as he watched the crimson twin slink back into the ship, sad and hurting. It tore at Optimus a little, but this was for the best, that much the Autobot leader was sure.
Smokescreen laughed again, drawing the Prime's attention to the others in the group. "So, two hundred from Callie, one hundred from Mia, one fifty from Aleyah and one fifty from Lennox, all on Danny?"
The humans all grinned up at Smokescreen while Thundercracker glared; bright crimson optics pinned on the Praxian. Giving another sigh, Optimus shook his helm at them while Starscream slid next to the Prime.
"Younglings, Prime. Younglings."
Keeping his optics on the group, Optimus calmly replied. "I am more aware of that fact than you realise Starscream."
The seeker laughed again, causing the Prime to shake his helm as the humans and Smokescreen worked out the betting pools on the Danny vs. Sunstreaker drama that had suddenly unfolded.
()()()
To Be Continued