Disclaimer: I do not own Elita One nor any other Transformers character. Nebula belongs to Meiza and I use her with Meiza's permission! Sneakthief belongs to me. I make no money from writing this!

*Note* This story came to be because of Meiza's great story, Elita One, 28 Times. I got to thinking (a dangerous habit I've tried to kick) and decided to pick up my pen, figuratively, and get back into writing something more then a one shot. So here it is. A glance into the life of my OC, Sneakthief. Enjoy!

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Title: Love and Trust

Chapter 1 - Love and Hate

"What in that half fried processor of yours possessed you to take on Bruticus.... ALONE!!!

Hands planted on her desk, Elita One leaned forward, glaring at the femme seated across from her. She could remember only a handful of times she had been this angry. Several of them involved her beloved Optimus being a stubborn aft and once revolved around their resident cranky CMO. But this was the first time she'd felt this way towards one of her femmes.

The blue and black femme seated silently before her. The Femme Corps' newly appointed Supply Officer, Sneakthief.

They had just returned from defending one of the last Energon processing plants. The battle could have gone either way, both sides on the verge of victory or defeat, when the young femme before her had done the most idiotic, foolsparked and possibly the bravest thing she'd ever seen.

Sneakthief had somehow gotten behind the Decepticon forces. Popping up seemingly out of nowhere, she had climbed up the massive combiner's leg and proceeded to shoot Bruticus in the joint where his hip meet his right leg. The giant mech's painful bellow shocked both sides. Almost all fighting paused as Bruticus reached down to swat the small femme from his side. But he never got the chance. The repeated shots to the joint caused a little used sub routine to kick in, Emergency Separation.

The look of surprise on the Con's face was almost comical as his massive form began to fall apart.

Elita had no doubt that this moment turned the tide in favor of the Autobots but it was what her officer did "after" the combiner turned back into it's gestalt team that truly had the Femme Commander fuming. Before the team members could recover from their forced separation, said officer had launched herself at one of the Cons.

And not just any Decepticon, but the very one she had a deep and long running grudge against. The right leg of Bruticus and self proclaimed "One Mech Black Market", Swindle.

The Con's resident wheeler and dealer never knew what hit him. Still dazed, he could barely raise his arms to defend himself from the enraged femme sitting on his chest, trying with all her might to pound his face into scrap. The violence of the attack stunned not only the Autobots, but the nearby Decepticons as well. The usually mild mannered Supply Officer had turned into a raving psychotic, displaying a viciousness normally reserved for Sunstreaker.

Even after Swindle lost consciousness, Sneakthief didn't stop. The snarling femme started clawing at his chest armor, trying to force it open. With dawning horror, Elita knew what she was doing. She was going after Swindle's spark.

"Stop Her!"

Elita's shout jolted both the Decepticons and Autobots into action. It took both Ironhide and Inferno to pry Sneakthief from her victim. Blast Off and Vortex grabbed Swindle by the arms and dragged him away from the screaming femme. The Cons fell back, retreat ordered, as Ratchet rushed forward with a sedative in hand.

If she hadn't seen it with her own two optics, Elita would not have believed it. Two of the strongest mechs the Autobots had were struggling to hang onto a femme a fourth their mass. Inferno had his arms around her torso, keeping her arms pinned to her sides. His secure grip did nothing to stop the snarling femme. Sneakthief thrashed back and forth, spewing curses and threats. Ironhide had the misfortune to have the more dangerous end to contain if the numerous dents in his chest and abdominal armor was any indication. He growled and swore as he tried to hang onto her flailing legs. Freeing one leg, she planted her heeled ped in Ironhide's forehead. Before the pissed off Weapons Specialist could draw his gun, Ratchet plunged the sedative into her neck.

A small force was left behind to secure the plant. The remainder had returned to base to repair, refuel and rest. Elita doubted she'd be resting anytime soon. Sneakthief had been taken to medbay, for repairs and to make sure she didn't flip out once she woke up. Elita had left orders with Ratchet, "as soon as she's online, send her to me."

So here she was, less then four breems after the battle, sitting quietly infront of her furious commander.

"I asked you a question solider."

Sneakthief twitched slightly at Elita's harsh tone. Her response was soft spoken, very unlike the outgoing femme, "Well... it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"A good idea?" It took all of Elita's will not to reach across the desk and throttle her officer, "Was it a good idea to take on a combiner by yourself? Was it a good idea to go psycho-bot on one of it's members who just happens to be your ex-lover?" Elita ignored Sneakthief's sudden tensing at the mention of her ex, "Maybe it was a good idea to attack a fellow officer? Do you know how close Ironhide came to shooting your aft?"

Sneakthief said nothing, head down, unable to look her commander in the optics. Letting a frustrated sigh out threw her vents, Elita lowered herself into her chair. She let the silence linger for a click or two before speaking more calmly, "While I don't condone such recklessness, I appreciate the ...effectiveness... of your attack on Bruticus. I also will not fault you for your attack on Swindle. I can only imagine how difficult it is to face someone you once cared about across a battlefield. But..." she paused to lean back in her seat, optics pinning the femme to her chair, "I can't overlook the damage you inflicted to both Ironhide and Inferno. For refusing to stand down and attacking your fellow Autobots, I am temporarily reliving you of your duties and confining you to quarters."

Sneakthief's head snapped up, mouth open to protest, before she stopped herself. Looking back at her lap, she nodded and replied meekly, "Yes ma'am, I understand."

"Dismissed."

Standing, Sneakthief moved to the door, leaving without a sound. Once the door slid shut, Elita let her shoulders drop. Leaning forward, she rested her head in her hands. She'd never had to discipline one of her troops like this before. Oh she'd handed out punishments to her femmes, usually for drinking a little to much high-grade or getting caught in a compromising position with one of the resident mechs but never something so serious. What distressed her more then anything was Sneakthief's responses. She'd known the young femme for many vorns, even before the forming of the Femme Corp. First as a refugee with her mother, Nebula, seeking shelter from the war. Then as a volunteer, using her connections from vorns living on the streets to get desperately needed supplies for other displaced femmes and their offspring. And finally, as one of the first to sign up when Elita's mate, Optimus Prime, had approached her to create the Femme Corp.

Sneakthief was outgoing and friendly, almost always with a smile on her face. She made friends easily and earned the respect of many, femmes and mechs alike. She was intensely loyal, quick to defend her friends and not afraid to stand up to mechs twice her size. Temperament wise, Elita wished she had a dozen more femmes like her.

Work ethics wise, no one plucked Elita's nerves like Sneakthief. Her disdain for following rules and protocol annoyed not only the Femme Commander but other officers as well. More then once, Elita had called her on it, but it never changed. If there was a procedure to follow, Sneakthief found a way around it. If there were reports to turn in, Sneakthief "misplaced" them. If there were forms to fill out, Sneakthief forgot to do them.

So, knowing her like she did, this meek, quiet attitude was something that worried Elita. This was not the Sneakthief they all knew and loved.

Staring at the empty chair before her, Elita couldn't help but wonder what the Decepticon's Supply Officer had done to make the Autobot's Supply Officer hate him so much.

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coming soon... Chapter 2 - Love and Money

Reviews are very welcome! Flames will be used to light the BBQ and grill up some hotdogs for the other reviewers.