-This was inspired while I was reading Norton Antivirus by EmciiSquared. I just had to wonder how far Skywarp would go to avoid something and realized; this is Skywarp we're talking about. He wouldn't blink an optic at hiding in an enemy base.

Skywarp and the Art of Hiding

Down the main hallway, going to the right, and second door on the left, was a room that was mainly used for simulations and battle plans. A large table in the center with a hologram projector and a number of chairs made it ideal for the tactical team's use and for movie night. However, it tended to be empty and quiet during day shifts unless something big was going on. And seeing as everything had been rather uneventful these last few days, there was no one around. Which was the exact reason Shay was currently in there.

Carrying a thick comforter and some books, the woman climbed up onto one of the comfier chairs by the wall and wrapped the green striped blanket around herself until she was satisfied. Shay settled down into a relaxed position and opened her first book after finding her page and pulling out the marker. A peaceful quiet descended except for the occasional turn of a page until...

"What are you reading?"

The human immediately stilled as she recognized the voice and every muscle locked in tension. She didn't move. The first thing she thought was, 'It's going to be one of those days...'

Finally, her blue eyes lifted up as she risked a peak and found a Cybertronian looking down on her. And while normally she had to look up to the sentient giants, she had never found herself having to lift her head all the way to the ceiling. It just had to be him. Shay wasn't sure why he had announced his presence or why he hadn't moved forward to grab her. Instead of getting scared she took a short breath and answered his question.

"A book about a detective in Chicago in the nineteen thirties."

"Is there fighting?" The purple seeker's expression perked up excitedly.

She paused for thought, "Yes. Gun fights, car chases, sneaking, betrayal, the mob, and fedora hats."

"Oooh! Is there a movie?!"

"No. Sorry."

There was another pause as the human contemplated their predicament and then decided to speak again, "May I ask...Why are you on the ceiling?"

As it was, Skywarp had holed himself between two stalactites way up high. Shay wasn't sure how he got into the base (seeing as they had shields to prevent him from teleporting in) or how he'd avoided Red's cameras, but as she stared at the cavernous ceiling that was far above her height, the woman had to wonder how he was managing to keep himself in place and not fall. The cybertronian jet hadn't even brought up their last encounter, which had involved him grabbing and then dropping her. Maybe he didn't realize she was the same human, or maybe he didn't care. Either way, the young woman wanted to know what he was doing in the Autobot base.

"Oh, well I'm hiding." He replied promptly as if that explained everything. Shay resisted the urge to sigh. How did Prowl manage to deal with ridiculous situations all the time?

"Hiding from...?"

"The Constructicons. They're out to get me 'cause I won't go to the medbay."

"I see." She didn't really. After a moment or so of silence and musing the serious female put forth her opinion. "The ceiling isn't a very good place to hide. For one, purple and orange are very vibrant next to each other. Anyone can look up and see you. Two, once you're spotted you are an easy target. And you can't fight when you're clinging to a stalactite."

This did nothing to soothe a twitchy seeker, "Well, were am I supposed to hide?! They won't leave me alone and I can't hide with TC because they keep checking there and they're following meeeeee!" His wings started little flickering movements as desperation leaked out of his tone.

Shay put the paper marker back in the book and thought about it for a moment, "Why don't you hide in there?" The woman pointed to a door off to the side of the large room, "It just holds some old cleaning supplies. There is no one in there."

"Ha! They won't catch me! Not the Constructicons, not the the Autobots, and not Screamer!" With that, the flyer jumped down from the ceiling with an almighty crash and rushed into the medium sized closet. The door clicked and locked behind him. Miss Carpenter wasn't sure what Starscream had to do with it, but she was pretty sure that seeker was either a few bolts short or missing a lot of recharge. Most likely both.

'Just shake it off and go with it.' She told herself as she returned to her story.

Absolute silence for half an hour. At one point, it occurred to the woman that perhaps she should check on Skywarp, being as quiet as he was. But there wasn't any data files or plans in there. What could he possibly do with cleaning supplies and their collection of movies? Although, he could be stealing them... Eventually she just shrugged and continued reading. Even if he was stealing, what could she do about it? He was a huge cybertronian and one little human couldn't do much. And they were just movies after all, easily replaceable.

Then came the sound of heavy footsteps as the door at the end of the room opened and the leader of the Autobots walked in. He noted Shay's presence and continued past to get to the closet. The woman didn't look up.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

Optimus paused and deep blue optics looked back in confusion, "I need the cleansing solvent. There's paint all over my desk, thanks to your guardian." A deep baritone full of authority rang through the room.

She shrugged her shoulders. Shay had no say in Sideswipe's pranks nor did she usually help him. "Ratchet says panicky seekers are violent."

That stopped the Prime in his tracks. He gave her an odd look before studying the closet door and then glancing back at her again. The woman sighed. No one would let her read today it seemed. Finally she lifter her honey colored head.

"I would have sounded the alarm but he would have warped away before anyone could get him in the brig. It's been a while and there hasn't been a sound. He may not still be in there." That particular decepticon was a particularly slippery person to get ahold of.

The big blue and red Autobot sighed and rested his face plates in a servo. Shay could swear she heard him mutter something along the lines of "...purple gremlin..." An eyebrow raised as Optimus went over to the door and tried to open it anyways. After finding it locked, he punched in his Officer's code and it swept to the sides with a whoosh. A few seconds of silence and then a streak of black and amethyst crashed out, narrowly missing the Prime who just managed to step out of the way.

"I WON'T LET YOU CATCH ME!" A shriek of defiance and delighted excitement in a way only Skywarp could do bounced around the room as the jet rushed out of the entry to the hall. The Autobot leader glanced at Shay who gave him a bland look. The Decepticon alarm started to go off as Red Alert's voice came over the comm link system, shouting about an intruder. Optimus pinched the bridge of his nose struts before sighing and heading out the door to deal with the current mess. Picking up her book, the female went back to reading. If no one was dying, she wasn't getting up.