A/N: This fic is set in a bastardized G1 type continuity, so when you picture character designs they'd look G1 ish, and they'll act like their G1 selves unless otherwise mentioned, but there's also potential for characters who aren't necessarily G1 to show up.

Why did I spell Cadie the way I did? I wanted her to have a certain spunk to her, and I figured an alternate spelling of the usual Katie would help convey that.


Chapter 2: Reunion

"Alright, put your servos where I can see them!" Cadie suddenly heard behind the doorway before a big, vibrantly colored robot leaped out and aimed his blaster directly at her, his facial expression did change to fear however when he saw that she was an organic, but that wasn't enough to take the overwhelming sense of fear Cadie felt away.

Cadie screamed in horror at the sight of Thunder Clash aiming his weapon at her, this was only met with Thunder Clash screaming in horror at the sight of an actual organic creature. Hound, Mirage, Trailbreaker, and Windcharger didn't have time to be unimpressed by their 'captain', they were too busy looking at Treadsmoke, still miraculously fast asleep, though he still looked dead, he was a deep sleeper.

"Step... away... from the Autobot..." Thunder Clash quivered. "But no closer to me! Got it!?"

"Who are you!?" Cadie asked, not daring to move an inch from where she sat.

"I am Thunder Clash, Autobot Star Commander of the SS Supercomet, remove yourself from that corpse, now!" Thunder Clash barked, still shaking.

"Corpse?" Cadie tilted her head.

"Thunder Clash, that's a human, quit freaking out." Mirage rolled his optics.

"Are you kidding? She's probably the one who killed him! Don't you know organics spew a toxic corrosive slime?" Thunder Clash jittered, this gave Cadie an idea. She stood up and hopped down, stepping closer to Thunder Clash.

"That's right, that mech is my kill," Cadie grinned sadistically as she stepped closer to the cowering Autobot. "And I'll get you next, with my toxic corrosive slime!" She laughed, getting closer and closer to the Autobot that was frozen with fear. The four Autobots who actually spent time around humans weren't sure what to think, should they find this comical? Roll their optics at the clear incompetence of their new captain? Or be asking a million questions as to how this human got a hold of their friend? Before Cadie could take her prank any further, Treadsmoke shifted and yawned loudly.

"Cadie, could'ya turn the volume down a bit, that screaming is really loud..." Treadsmoke murmured, slurring his words tiredly.

"Treadsmoke?" Windcharger asked.

"Windy?" Treadsmoke murmured, sitting up and opening his optics. "What in the..." He rubbed his optics. "Guys!" He exclaimed, jumping up to his pedes.

"Treadsmoke!" His friends exclaimed, running over to him and embracing him.

"Tread, you're alive!" Hound exclaimed.

"We thought you were a goner!" Trailbreaker remarked.

"What, are you kidding? It takes more than being pinned down by three Insecticons, two Seekers, Bliztwing, and all of Soundwave's minions to kill me." Treadsmoke laughed. "They got damn near close to it though." He nodded.

"Treadsmoke!" Thunder Clash remarked. "Fear not, we're here to rescue from the clutches of this evil, wicked, hideous organic."

"Hideous? Hey!" Cadie grimaced.

"Rescue?" Treadsmoke asked, tilting his helm quizzically. "Cadie, what are you doing?" he arched his brow. "C'mon, don't scare the big doofus."

"Yes, please, heed the call of your master, organic pet." Thunder Clash begged.

"I am NOT his pet!" Cadie barked, kicking Thunder Clash's pede before stomping over to Treadsmoke. "I don't know who that guy is, but I hate him." She muttered to Treadsmoke.

"Welcome to the club, sis." Mirage murmured to the human.

"Treadsmoke, what's going on?" Hound asked. "What are you doing here? Who is she?"

"I suppose you're all due a proper introduction and explanation." Treadsmoke nodded. "First and foremost, Hound, Mirage, Trailbreaker, Windcharger, meet Cadie. She's a good friend of mine." he explained. "That's an understatement, really, she's been my loyal companion, partner in crime, and overall best friend for the past four years."

"Hi." Cadie smiled, changing her tune from her interaction with Thunder Clash completely. "Treads has told me all about you guys, all good things." She assured them.

"I found her, no, she found me... we found each other after wandering around Earth all alone for eight years," Treadsmoke explained. "See, about two years after you all went back to Cybertron, I woke up from a comatose state, I tried to contact somebot, anybot, but my communicator was still busted, I had no clue what had become of you all until just today when I decided we'd revisit the old base." He explained. "So, what brings you all here?" He asked.

"We're grabbing some things from Mirage's bar because we're heading out on an adventure." Trailbreaker grinned. "Say, I've got an idea, you should come with us Treads!"

"Well, I'd love to." Treadsmoke grinned.

"An adventure in space? Count me in!" Cadie jumped for joy, this sent a chill of sudden realization down Treadsmoke's spinal piston, especially when he saw the looks on the faces of his old friends. He knew they were all thinking the same thing. Him, a war seasoned robot braving whatever this adventure had to offer was one thing, him bringing along Cadie, who could hold her own in most Earthly confrontations, but had no protective shell, abilities, or anything else to protect her on this journey was another thing completely.

"Cades..." Treadsmoke murmured quietly. "I don't know if that's a good idea." He said sorrowfully.

"What?" Cadie asked. "Why not? Treads, I'm tough, you know that." She insisted.

"Yeah, but this is outer space we're talking about." Treadsmoke sat her down. "Primus only knows what could be out there, and if something ever happened to you, I'd never be able to forgive myself for letting that happen." He explained.

"So this is it?" Cadie asked. "You're just going to abandon me to go fly off with the mechs who left you here in the first place?" She asked, tears forming up in her eyes.

"I never said that." Treadsmoke replied. "We just need to weigh our options here."

"Fine." Cadie huffed, crossing her arms. "Sorry I'd be impeding on your guys trip." She muttered. Did Treadsmoke feel guilty for making her feel this way? Immensely, but he'd rather stay on Earth if it meant she was protected rather than endanger her life in any way.

"Maybe we should shack up here for the night." Hound suggested. "We can maybe talk things over, plan out how this is all going to work."

"That sounds like a mighty fine idea." Trailbreaker nodded.

"Then that is what we shall do, providing the earthling is kept watch of, who knows what that little beast is capable of?" Thunder Clash shuddered.

"That's right, cause I'm some sort of scraplet or something." Cadie rolled her eyes.

"How much about us did you teach her, Tread?" Windcharger asked, marveling that this little human who would have only been a toddler when the Cybertronian race even inhabited Earth knew so much about Cybertronian life.

"She's practically a little Teletraan II. That's how much." Treadsmoke smiled proudly, looking fondly at the human even though she was still sore with him.


"Hold. Still." Mirage huffed as Treadsmoke winced while he worked on his communicator that night, Cadie had long since gone to bed, leaving it just the mechs up and about.

"I can't help it, you keep poking a sensitive wire!" Treadsmoke grumbled. "You're no Ratchet, lemme tell you."

"Maybe not, but I still know what wires to snip if I want you to shut up... permanently." Mirage replied. "There, test it out." He instructed, flipping the latch on Treadsmoke's wrist closed.

/Yeah, breaker one-nine, this here's the rubber duck, you got a copy on me, pig-pen, c'mon?/ Treadsmoke spoke through the comm, dialing Trailbreaker, who was on the other side of the base.

/Pardon?/ Trailbreaker commed back.

/Convoy! Don't you remember that song? You used to play it non stop whenever we were thirty-two strong and driving somewhere./ Treadsmoke replied. /Cripes mech, lay off the nightmare fuel, it's affecting your memory circuits./ He ended the call. "Thanks Doc Raj, Works like a dream."

"Don't call me 'Doc Raj', I might be happy to see you alive and well, but I still hate your nicknames." Mirage replied crossly.

"Whatever you say, Raj Mahal." Treadsmoke chuckled, sitting down on the large concrete couch with Hound. "So, you got stuck with Huffer after I was marked offline? Harsh." He made conversation with Hound.

"It wasn't so bad, Huffer was surprisingly sympathetic when it all happened," Hound stated. "And then when he realized I was better adjusted he went back into the same old Huffer." He chuckled a bit, reminiscing. "Cadie seems nice." He remarked.

"Hound, Cadie is one of the best things that's ever happened to me." Treadsmoke nodded with a big smile on his face that lowered into a look of slight sadness. "Which is why you have to understand my reluctance when it comes to joining you guys on this adventure. What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned her?" He asked. "And then if I brought her along... Hound you know as well as any other bot what all is out there, I... I just can't risk putting her in danger." He sighed. Hound looked at his friend and set a servo on his shoulder, smiling proudly.

"Treadsmoke," he shook his helm fondly with a proud grin on his face. "You are certainly not the mech I thought was dead all that time ago."

"No, he's a family man now." Windcharger chuckled.

"Our Treadsmoke, now a single sire of one human femme." Mirage nodded.

"Cadie is my friend, not my sparkling, c'mon guys." Treadsmoke insisted, rolling his optics at Mirage's remark.

"Treads, don't take it like a bad thing, it's great that you have someone in your life that you care this much about, you've grown a lot as a mech, I can tell." Hound assured him. "She's so lucky to have you. And you're pretty darn lucky to have her."

"Yeah, pity we can't bring her along." Mirage nodded. "I feel she and all of us would get along swimmingly."

"Except for Thunder Clash." Windcharger snorted a laugh.

"Please, we're going to ditch Thunder Clash at the nearest refueling station." Mirage rolled his optics. "If only Cadie were like Trailbreaker, had her own little protective shield around her for whenever she needed it." He mentioned.

"Like her own suit of armor." Hound nodded. "Wait a second..." Hound thought to himself.

"What?" Treadsmoke asked. "What is it?"

"I remember whenever I was in to see Wheeljack about my hologram projector acting up, he'd chat about his latest gadgets and gizmos as he worked." Hound murmured. "And one time, he was particularly excited about something he was working on, it was a prototype for a suit he'd be producing for the human military so they'd stand a better chance against the Decepticons." He explained. "An Exo-Suit, he called it." Hound recalled. "C'mon, Wheeljack left a bunch of his old inventions here, lets see if that's one of them!" He grinned, beckoning his friends to follow him. When they arrived in Wheeljack's workshop, the place was almost as if Wheeljack had never left it was so full, cluttered too. Surely if it was there, they'd be looking quite a while for it. What they didn't know was while they were looking, somebot was watching them.

"Any idea what this thing looked like?" Treadsmoke asked as he opened old lockers and boxes for any trace or clue.

"White if I remember correctly, stands about a foot taller than an average human, with a big clear bubble for the head." Hound explained.

"How do you know he never gave it to the military?" Mirage asked.

"Because he was telling me about it the day before the final fight against the Decepticons before Alpha Trion declared the war finished." Hound explained. "He never had reason to produce it."

"Can't see Wheeljack having any reason to bring it back to Cybertron." Windcharger nodded, shuffling around inventions galore.

"What are you four doing!?" A voice suddenly piped up from behind and below the mechs, this startled them all, but Treadsmoke showed how startled he was the most.

"Agh! What are you?" Treadsmoke squealed, aiming a blaster at the source of the noise. The source moved out from where it hid, a small orange robot with a set of wheels rather than legs and claws for servos.

"My name is Fixit, Wheeljack built me to assist in his inventions, keep the place organized, and keep unwanted pests like yourselves out when he wasn't around. What are you doing in my creator's laboratory?" The little minicon replied.

"We're looking for one of his inventions." Hound replied.

"Well, you've found one, now go away. You've messed this place up enough as it is, Wheeljack isn't going to like coming home to his lab in this... disarray you've left it in!" Fixit huffed, already moving crates back to where they originally were.

"Hey, tiny, it was in disarray when we got here." Treadsmoke remarked. "Wheeljack was never exactly known for his organization abilities."

"According to everybot else, no. But he had a very particular way of setting things up, and now you've come in and wrecked it!" Fixit bemoaned.

"Fixit, we're looking for an invention called the Exo-Suit, have you seen it?" Windcharger asked.

"Yes, I have, and I know it's precise location, but that is information I'm not telling you." Fixit crossed his arms. "As you four are not Wheeljack. Now, leave." He ordered.

"I have half a mind to punt you like a football right here, right now." Treadsmoke snarled as he and the four left the workshop. "Well, that went well." He said sarcastically as they walked back to the commons room.

"At least we tried." Hound shrugged. "Sorry Tread."

"That stupid little drone," Mirage growled. "Why would Wheeljack make such a rotten little glitch?"

"To be fair, he was just doing his job, it just so happens his job was getting rid of us." Windcharger reasoned. "If only there was a way we could get Wheeljack here, or at least make him think Wheeljack was here." This made Treadsmoke stop in his tracks, a sly grin spread across his face as an idea came to him.

"But fellows," Treadsmoke snapped his digits, his body shifting and melding to become an exact replica of Wheeljack, down to the voice. "Wheeljack's already 'ere." He chuckled. "Observe." He said, turning and walking back towards the lab.


"Where is is? I know I left it 'ere!" 'Wheeljack' thought out loud as he opened the door to the lab and started looking around.

"Wheeljack! You've returned!" Fixit exclaimed. "Pardon the mess, four mechs were just here, scrounging around, I told them to leave." He said proudly.

"Good work, Fixit." Treadsmoke said, busy looking around, acting as energetic and quirky as he could to really convey he was the real inventor. "Say, Fix, where's the Exo-Suit prototype? I've drawn up some plans for alterations for it and I wanna see if I'll have to completely remold it or if I can just attach them." He explained.

"You put the Exo-Suit prototype in the pass code protected vault in the back wall along with all your other more valuable works." Fixit replied.

"Pass code protected vault. Of course." Treadsmoke said, coming off as if it were a realization. However, What Treadsmoke was thinking was: "Pass code protected vault? I can't believe my dumb luck. Of course it's there." He stepped up to the vault and looked ad the key pad, a five digit pass code, a five digit pass code only Wheeljack, the real Wheeljack would know.

"Alright, pass code time." Treadsmoke mumbled, his digit hovering above the key pad.

"You should know it, Wheeljack," Fixit grinned, as if he were somehow onto Treadsmoke. "You said it yourself that it was the easiest pass code you could have set."

"Yeah?" Treadsmoke asked. "Time flies I guess." He shrugged. "Luckily, I know an age old master key tactic." He grinned, firing his blaster at the key pad and destroying it, as he suspected, that dismantled the lock and the door swung open. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now." He shrugged, going back to his regular form and grabbing the Exo-Suit.

"Saboteur!" Fixit remarked. "And now you're stealing one of his inventions! Luckily I have his contact code, I'll alert Wheeljack right away!" He scurried over to a communications console and dialed.

"Hey Fixit, is this Wheeljack's instant immobilizer?" Treadsmoke asked, picking up another invention from behind the door.

"Yes, are you going to steal that too?" Fixit asked as the transmission dialed.

"Nah, just gonna test it out." He said, firing a beam at Fixit and fixing him frozen where he stood. "Take that, wheelie." He snorted a laugh as he walked up to the immobilized minicon. "I'll just be taking this Exo-Suit now." He chuckled.

/Fixit, this better be important, I'm in the middle of my recharge cycle./ Wheeljack's tired voice came through the console, looks like the transmission came through.

/Wheeljack? How you doing buddy?/ Treadsmoke replied, not even bothering to change his voice or form. /Is it okay if I borrow the Exo-Suit?/

/Treadsmoke?/ Wheeljack asked. /Tread, is that you?/

/In the plating. Look, the fact I'm alive is too long a story to tell right now, I'll tell you over a couple viscos sometime./ Treadsmoke replied. /Now, the Exo-Suit? I promise it'll stay in pristine condition... maybe./

/Yeah, well, I suppose... You need the code for the lock?/ Wheeljack asked.

/Nah, thanks though... By the way, you might want to make a Fixit 2.0, your first attempt has a rotten disposition. See ya, Jack-Attack./ Treadsmoke said, ending the transmission. "I should've just dialed him up, saved all the fuss." Treadsmoke muttered as he locked the lab up and returned to the commons room.

"Wanna explain why I just heard laser fire in on the other end of the base?" Thunder Clash crossed his servos and looked down at Treadsmoke.

"You aren't my captain yet, Blunder Crash. So no, I don't wanna." Treadsmoke replied. "Here it is fellas, the Exo-Suit." He grinned.

"Fixit give you any trouble?" Hound asked.

"Yeah, you might say he was pretty stiff about it." Treadsmoke snorted a laugh. "Oh, that's funny because I used Wheeljack's immobilizer on him." He explained.

"Why'd you take that little thing again?" Thunder Clash asked.

"I'm still not up for answering to you but I'll humor you on this one." Treadsmoke reasoned. "This is for Cadie, my human, this is a restraining suit that will prevent her from ever inflicting any harm an organic can inflict on you." He fabricated his explanation, knowing this would help him establish a fear from the boasting yet cowardly commander.

"You as in one, right?" Thunder Clash asked.

"No, you specifically. She knows me, she already knows my friends enough to like them, but you, you are rotten in her books." He grinned a bit. "You aren't so hot in mine either, I'll admit." Treadsmoke had this little habit of talking himself into trouble, he did it with nearly everybot, he had done it with Optimus, Ironhide, Prowl, any Decepticon he'd ever encountered, even any old flame he had his big mouth had gotten him into trouble. So why should Thunder Clash be any different? "This little number will keep her from attacking you when we ship out tomorrow, that is until I decide I've had enough and I let her out, she can corrode your plating with that slime you were going on about."

"Well, thank you for considering that factor." Thunder Clash nodded. "I am sure you two will make a good contribution to our squadron, not as good as I, the commander, but still good all the same."

"Well, you're just a nonstop delight, aren't you?" Treadsmoke said sarcastically.

"I've been told that, yes." Thunder Clash nodded, not reading into his sarcasm whatsoever.

"Oi gevalt..." Treadsmoke sighed to himself, knowing he was in for a long trip if this blowhard was coming along. "Alright, it's been a long day, I need a rest." He yawned, grabbing the Exo-Suit and taking it to his room.


"Treadsmoke?" Was the first word the mech in question woke up to, the voice was coming from outside his door, and it belonged to Cadie.

"C'mon in Cades." Treadsmoke yawned as he sat up in his berth. "Still mad at me?" He asked as she walked in and climbed up onto his berth.

"No..." Cadie shook her head. "Y'know, stages of grief. Now I'm just sad this is gonna be my last day with you." She sighed, leaning up against him.

"In a sense." Treadsmoke nodded.

"C'mon Treads, don't start with that "nobody's ever really gone" stuff." Cadie sighed. "You're going away. We had fun, four years of fun. But all good things come to an end."

"Yep." Treadsmoke nodded. "My time on Earth is coming to a close." He nodded.

"Don't remind me." Cadie looked up sadly at him, but when she looked she could tell he had a big grin on his face. "Oh, you're happy you're going away?" She asked. "At least pretend to be upset."

"Cadie," Treadsmoke's smile persisted. "Yeah, I'm going. Yeah, it's gonna be my last day on Earth, but... it's also yours." He grinned.

"What?" Cadie asked, brightening up.

"I had to fight off a sniveling little lab assistant for this, hope you're happy." Treadsmoke pulled the Exo-Suit out from under his berth. "Courtesy of my old friend Wheeljack, a one of a kind Exo-Suit."

"Cool!" Cadie exclaimed, jumping down to look at the suit. "What does it do?"

"I have no idea." Treadsmoke shrugged. "But you put it on and you become a little more likely to survive a space adventure." He explained. "Press that button on the back to open it up." He instructed. She pressed the button and climbed inside the open suit. Once it was all sealed up she fell to her hands and knees as the suit linked up with her person, all of a sudden weighing down on her.

"Oh. I have to figure out how to walk all over again. Super." Cadie droned as she struggled to stand.

"You just gotta think about what you wanna do before you do it." Treadsmoke assured her, bear in mind he had no idea how this thing worked so he was completely talking out of his tailpipe. Eventually she did get a handle on walking. She mastered it in a little under an hour.

"I can't wait until the lack of gravity in space comes into play." Treadsmoke laughed as he and Cadie walked down the hall. "I'm pretty sure this thing is equipped with weapons too." He stated.

"How do you know?" Cadie asked.

"Wheeljack built it. He armed the base's floor waxer to the teeth." Treadsmoke informed her. "Chances are that thing has loads of gadgets and gizmos in it." He told her as they made their way into the commons room. "Well fellas, are we ready to head out?" He asked.

"You know it." Trailbreaker nodded as he and Mirage hauled crates to Thunder Clash's ship.

"Think you wanna stop by a market or something? Get provisions for Cadie?" Hound asked.

"Maybe a few non perishables." Treadsmoke nodded. "I'm just gonna fill a drum up with water and bring it on the ship. The SS Supercomet is a TFP-11 Jackhammer model, those come equipped with a hydromatter converter. And maybe another drum of water for, well, drinking."

"Uncle Hound is just looking to lend a servo where he can." Hound winked, grabbing to large plastic drums and giving them to Treadsmoke. "Go fill these with the water from the freshwater lake a couple kliks east. Not the quarry." He instructed.

"Yes sir, Uncle Hound." Treadsmoke rolled his optics at his friend's playful jab.

"Uncle Hound?" Cadie asked as they left the base to walk to the nearby lake.

"It's nothing Cades, Hound is just a bit of a tool now and then." Treadsmoke replied. "Like I'd really get water from the quarry." He scoffed.

"Your first experience with deep frying you used motor oil. I can't say Hound is out of line on this one." Cadie nudged him playfully.

"I thought that motor oil friend chicken was good." Treadsmoke defended his cooking.


"WHEELJA-" Fixit yelped as he suddenly came to from his immobilization. "What in the name of..." He rubbed his aching helm. "He got away with the Exo-Suit!" Fixt exclaimed, moving immediately for the door, which had been locked from the outside. "I never liked that feature." Fixit growled to himself. His left claw ducked inside his arm and was replaced with a blowtorch, one of many tools he had stored within for maintenance work. He worked along the door, and eventually was able to create a Fixit sized hole in it.

"Hm, my sensors indicate six signs of Cybertronian life within the kilometer radius, that means the Exo-Suit is still mine for the returning!" He deduced, wheels squealing as he took off toward the signals. Those signals were currently inside the SS Supercomet, moments from taking off.

"That thing isn't going to be too much of a nuisance, will it?" Thunder Clash asked, looking at Cadie, who was currently sitting on the dashboard of the ship near where Treadsmoke sat.

"She certainly won't be the biggest nuisance on the ship." Treadsmoke replied smugly.

"Mm, that Mirage fellow probably will, I read up on him, he's a shifty character." Thunder Clash said, oblivious to the fact Treadsmoke was referring to him.

"I thought Optimus told Cliffjumper to destroy those reports..." Mirage growled to himself. "Trailbreaker, did you close the ramp behind you?" He asked.

"I think I did." Trailbreaker replied. No he didn't.

"Thinking you did and knowing you did are two very different things." Mirage grumbled as he got up and walked towards the airlock to close the ramp, he pulled the switch and the ramp closed shut. "There, now we are ready to launch." He remarked, walking back towards the hull where everyone else was, well, almost everyone.

"This has been a most unpleasant development." Fixit remarked from where he hid now that he was alone in the cargo bay and effectively trapped inside a ship going Primus knows where. The developments only got worse for Fixit, just as he finished speaking, the ship took to flight.

"Oh, terrific." Fixit droned.


Ever see Lilo and Stitch? Pretend Fixit is played by Kevin McDonald, who portrayed Agent Pleakley.