I'M BACK BABY! Hello to all my faithful readers! I know it has been way too long since I posted, but you know what, life. That's my excuse!

Ratchet huffed softly to himself as he stared down at the plate of food before him. There wasn't anything wrong with it. His eggs were cooked to perfection, toast still hot and thankfully not drowned in butter, and his bacon was perfectly crisp. But it just wasn't the same.

It wasn't the same because it wasn't served up with a sharp wit and a head of copper red hair. Dear Primus he missed his spark daughter. Kat was the light of his day, getting to see her smirking face at every meal was exactly what he needed.

He couldn't begin to explain just why the little human femme had such an effect on his mood, but he had known the moment his optics had locked with her on the war-torn streets of Mission City that she was something special. They had bickered for a moment about something he couldn't even remember, but what he did remember was when this petite little human femme scaled a building barehanded and with her primitive weapon slung across her back to get into his faceplates.

The moment her tiny booted feet hit the roof she was up against the edge of the roof, her finger pointing at him as she snarled at him with such ferocity that even Optimus had taken a few steps back, all starring wide opticed at the copper haired femme as she raged at the medic. It hadn't seemed to matter to her that he was six times her size and could easily crush her with a twitch as she verbally tore him a new exhaust.

"Look here you pile of rusted bolts and bad attitude, I am not here out of duty, or responsibility! I am here because you and your kind chose to not only fight your own kin, but fight them to protect the human race! I will be the first to admit human kind is made up of childish leadership, suspicion, hatred, greed and enough sexual tension it would make anyone's head spin! We are a childish race, we are prone to allowing our fears of the unknown overwhelm us to the point that we don't see anything else. All we see is the fact that our fear makes us weak, weakness makes us vulnerable, being vulnerable is not something we are willing to overlook. We kill what we fear, and we have no excuse for it."

She had looked up at him then with such fire sparking in her green optics Ratchet couldn't help but take a step back as he gazed down at this little squishy being before him, surprised by the sheer conviction that colored her words. She didn't mince words, she didn't make excuses, she admitted to her races weaknesses, but she did so in a way it made those weaknesses seem like factors of her races strength.

"I get you don't want to be here, but this man, this mech and his ilk, are here on my planet, hurting my kind, hurting my men! I don't care what your problem is, but right now I have no give a damn to fucking give for your feelings. You hate me, and I seriously don't like you, but suck it up buttercup because you are stuck with me whether you like it or not! And if you even think about squishing me, I will haunt your metallic ass till the end of time!"

From that point on, Ratchet had held Kat near and dear to his spark. No one, human or otherwise had ever had the ball bearings to stand up to him like that, but then again, Kat was a very special femme. After she was recruited to join the Autobot faction, Ratchet had claimed her as his spark daughter and as the humans would say, the rest was history.

Glancing around him, he wasn't the only one missing their copper headed hellion.

Bee was mourning into his energon, Jolt was muted even more so than usual, and the twins were actually sitting quietly side by side, both pushing the scrambled eggs around their plates with matching looks of pure disappointment on their faces. The only mech at the table of mechs seemingly not affected by the lack of one copper haired Marine was their leader. Optimus sat surrounded by paperwork and PADD's, his breakfast sitting forgotten at his elbow. Ratchet scoffed softly into his energon; of course their Prime thought that Kat was just another cook. Ratchet knew for a fact that the mech hadn't taken the time to get to know her like the rest of them had, fragging scrap heap.

Sighing to himself, Ratchet stared down at his plate wondering how his dear spark daughter was faring at the Decepticon base.

Kat awoke slowly, her brain not jumping to full combat awareness like it usually did. For once in a very long time she had managed to get a full, good nights rest. No nightmares, no flashback, no awakening in a cold sweat, nothing. It was actually a very pleasant change of pace, one thing she was more than happy to change. The heavy arm wrapped snuggly around her middle and the heavy warmth against the length of her back gave a hint to the presence of her berthmate. Curled up against the length of her form, curled around her in an almost protective embrace was Blackout, the mechs face pressed into the back of her neck. He snuffled softly as she slipped from his grip and out of the berth, but settled as she ran a gentle hand through the fuzz of his buzz cut. The woman couldn't help the soft chuckle that slipped her lips as he snuffled again, humming contentedly before burying his face into the pillow once more. Kat stood beside the berth, watching the mech for a few moments before she went through the motions of throwing on a fresh uniform and snatching the already made cup of coffee from her new kitchen.

Fresh coffee in hand, a good night's sleep putting her into an actual good mood, she moved through the dark halls of the Nemesis. She paused to greet the morning security crew that intercepted her here and there, explaining who she was and where she was going at such an ungodly hour, before moving on to the mess hall. Her booted feet came to a skidding halt, the hand wrapped around her mug of coffee turned into a white knuckled grip as her eye twitched with barely withheld rage at the sight of a dark and empty kitchen before her thoroughly smacked down any good mood that might had made an attempt to take hold within her. None of her eight mechs were anywhere near the kitchen.

Well fuck it all. She had a base to feed, and she didn't have the time to hunt down eight wayward mechs.

Grunting to herself, Kat started up the kitchens massive coffee machines, moving around to see just what they had that could pass as a filling breakfast.

Thankfully they had enough fresh milk and eggs she could make pancakes, as well as fruit, bacon and sausage links. Nodding silently to herself, the woman went through the motions, preheating the massive deck oven and firing up the range, slathering butter across its surface to prepare it for the amount of work it was about to do.

Time seemed to move quickly, the service counter was filled and warmed, energon chilled and coffee piping hot, leaving her with fifteen minutes before the first of the troops was to enter her newly claimed domain. Glancing around the massive and empty room, Kat decided it was safe to indulge in one of her hidden and secret talents. Closing her eyes she gently tapped out a rhythm of the cool wood of her kitchens countertop, the song easily slipping from her lips without the knowledge of the audience taking up silent vigilance at the doors of the kitchen.

The eight mechs were beyond nervous as they made their way quickly towards the kitchen. The eight had spent the better part of the night combing through youtube, watching video after video, downloading the information. Their plan was originally to get into the kitchen before their new commanding officer, but Steve had failed to set the alarm clock in their quarters, making them all incredibly late for the first shift. The scent of food and coffee had greeted them outside the door, but it was the cyberangel singing that made them stop dead in their tracks.

"Grew up in a small town,
And when the rain would fall down,
I'd just stare out my window.
Dreamin' of what could be,
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray."

Slowly they inched forwards, carefully moving through the main rec-room that doubled as their mess hall, all eight gently pushing the door open enough to catch sight of their boss, her optics closed, head tilted to the side as she sang softly to the empty kitchen around her.

"Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me.
Wanted to belong here.
But something felt so wrong here,
So I pray
I could breakaway.

I'll spread my wings, and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway!"

The passion that filled her voice as she sang moved something deep within them, the lyrics, they sparked thoughts of Cybertron. What it used to be, what they had been fighting for eons for. It moved them to step slowly into the womans domain, each intent on basking in the warmth of her voice, the power each word seemed to hold over them.

"Want to feel the warm breeze,
Sleep under a palm tree,
Feel the rush of the ocean.
Get on board a fast train,
Travel on a jet plane,
Faraway
And breakaway,"

Her voice dropped off, rousing them from their stupor, their optics going wide as they met her shocked and angry glower. Oh dear.

"Where the frag have you lot been? When I say have your afts in the kitchen at 0400 hours, I mean drag your sorry excuses for afts out of berth and be here at 0400! You're all damn lucky I know how to handle this scrap on my own! And you better consider yourselves damn fragging blessed that we don't have enough supplies to make lunch or dinner tonight!"

The mechs all bowed their heads in shame, knowing they were completely to blame for the femmes' anger. They should have known better.

"And I swear to Primus and the All Spark, if word gets out that I sing I will personally separate you from your sparks. Bare handed. Am I making myself clear?"

The eight, although they towered over the woman, outweighed her quite a bit, and were far more powerful that the petite being standing before them, they still held a fear of just what she could and would do to them. It wasn't an if when it came to Kattrina Sunsinger, it was when.

Rolling her shoulders Kat waved them off, sending the silent message to man the serving line as the first mechs started to trickle in. Thankfully they were smart enough to catch her thought process and scrambled through the double doors once more, leaving her in peace.

Kat groaned softly, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes. She just didn't have the patients for this scrapping bs today! Groaning, Kat yanked off her chefs coat, ignored the mechs in the food line and made a b-line for her quarters. All she had the patients for right now was a hot bath and a stiff drink, and woe be to the bastard or bastards that got between her and her quarters!

Moving through the halls, she paused outside a pair of huge double doors, the sounds of weights being lifted resonating off the walls and outwards into her ears. Frowning softly to herself, Kat moved forwards, curious as to who would be lifting weights at six in the morning, but the sight that greeted her eyes stole the breath from her lungs.

Huge, he was huge, bigger than Megatron even, his back was to her, but she could see his flesh was riddled with scars, tanned from years in the sun, stretched taunt over muscles as they moved and flexed as monstrous arms lifted and lowered twin barbells, each holding at least eight hundred pounds with an ease that barely hinted at the true strength hiding beneath that wrap of golden flesh.

Good gods above.

Kat didn't know when she moved, but she found herself fingering the dark inked tattoo on the back of this being's neck; a dragon, purely ferocious in its simplicity, a crown adorning its head marking its regal status. His arms held in their stretched position, not protesting the gentle slide of her rough fingers over the tender flesh of his neck, it was as if time itself had stopped, holding its own breath to see what this being, this mech, would do under such a touch.

"It represents those that I have lost, and those who did not make it to life."

His voice, lords above, his voice was his gravel, unhued with smoke and velvet sending shivers of pure fire through the whole of her being as Kat gently pulled her exploring fingers away as he easily lowered the metal to the floor, the tiles cracking as the weight smashed down upon them as the mans hands released them a few inches from their surface. The mech slowly turned his upper body, hard golden eyes lifted to meet her own from beneath a fan of black lashes. Kat gulped in a breath as she slowly stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over her own boots in her move to flee the room as quickly as she humanly could. She knew those optics, she had heard so many stories, seen the carnage first hand, she should have known who this mech was by his reputation alone. She and her unit had discovered entire bases reduced to nothing but smoldering ash and bodies burnt beyond recognition.

"Predaking."

His name slipped her lips in a husked murmur, her back hitting the wall as this towering being slowly stood, standing nearly seven feet tall, built like a tank, all muscle and sinew. His short black hair was streaked through with gold and red, his optics flaring with golden fire as he slowly moved towards her, his eyes locked on hers, like a hunter locking in on its prey.

She knew she had no chance against him if he chose to attack, but she would fucking try, she would go down fighting. Clenching her jaw, Kat lifted her chin, meeting his gaze head on, showing no fear as he crowded into her, his huge arms caging her against the wall while his head bowing on those massive and broad shoulders of his as he pressed his face against the side of her neck. Kat could feel his hot breath ghosting over her flesh as he chuffed softly, his nose flaring as it took in her scent, pressing even closer as a rumbling purr like sound rumbled from within his massive chest and transferred into her own where they were pressed together.

"Your scent, I have smelled it before."

Her knees nearly gave out from beneath her, but she locked them, holding firm as his golden optic reappeared, locked onto hers once more. He did not move to pull away from her, keeping his hands on either side of her head, his chest pressed against her own, effectively trapping her there without truly holding her. She could feel his voice rumbling from his chest and into her own, sending shockwaves through her entire system and fingers of electricity dancing down her spine. Despite the dire situation she might be put into in such close quarters with such a mech who had displayed obvious abilities to wreck destruction and death with a strange ease, she didn't feel threatened. The opposite was true though, she felt safe, protected, warm in such a way she hadn't dared to feel unless in the presence of the triplets or her own team.

"I scented this scent in Chicago, you were the lone soldier standing at the Primes peddes, unarmed."

Kat could only offer a soft nod of her head, her eyes locked on the far wall as her mind and body warred against each other over just what she was supposed to be feeling while his full lips pulled back into a toothy smirk, one that sent shivers of dread and excitement through her entire system. Shock soon replaced that when one of his huge hands dropped to capture her own, bringing it upwards to press his lips against her knuckles, his golden optics never leaving her own as he spoke against her flesh.

"I admired you. The only human with enough courage to step into the field of combat without a weapon."

"I had weapons, just nothing obvious."

Why did she say that? Scrap it all to the Pits! The predacon's optics widened before narrowing slightly as he gazed at her over the flesh of her knuckles. To her slight relief his smile only grew as he nodded his head approvingly.

"Sneaky little femme. I like it. What is your designation cyberangel?"

Blinking at the endearment, Kat frowned a little. "My call sign is Siren."

The mech chuckled as he lowered her hand before stepping back slightly. Glad to have the breathing room, Kat stepped off the wall, making sure that the doorway was now at her back. Better safe than sorry in her opinion.

"Siren, beautiful creatures that sing to lure human males to their deaths, I believe it rather suits you."

A small laugh escaped her before she could stop it, her green eyes locking with his golden optics again as he shifted his head closer towards her own, their lips only a hairs breath from touching. Heat sparked between them, electricity dancing its tingling fingers across her skin as she tilted her chin upwards, exposing more of her neck to the predator before her. She knew, without a doubt that he could easily kill her with a flick of his wrist, but there was something about playing this game with a mech like Predaking that sent her inner beast purring.

"If you are done, I would like a word with our newest member."

Both glanced sideways, Predaking growling softly at the sight of Megatron sneering back at them. Slowly coming back into her mind, Kat shot a glare at the giant dragon standing before her. Shoving him away and answering his surprised growl with her own animalistic growl. Both mechs stared at her for a moment, Megatron in clear stunned awe that she could be so bold and Predaking with a fire burning in his optics that was not rage. Tossing her head Kat snarled, pushing against the mechs chest, surprising both mechs when Predaking was forced to take several steps backwards from the enraged copper haired woman.

"I will deal with scrap later, Predaking. But know this, you try and pull that move again, and I will shove my Glock so far down your throat you'll be crapping bullets for a millennia!"

Turning on her heel her iron mask fell back into place, nodding respectfully towards Megatron as she calmly fallowed him as he waved her to join him as he began to walk away. Neither spoke as they moved through the base in silence, neither speaking until they were safely within the confines of what looked like a shared office, Galvatron smiling warmly at her upon her entrance.

Standing back, Kat stood at parade rest, her eyes taking in the mechs seated before her. Despite her diminutive size, she knew what to look for. She could read every single emotion on a face, reading the eyes of those around her. Megatron was rather easy to read; his optics blazed with barely held rage, but it was cooling quickly. His shoulders had loosened in their walk, his entire form relaxing further as he settled himself into the large leather chair that rested behind the desk that rested on the opposite side of the room from where Galvatron was seated. Galvatron was another creature all on his own. Kat couldn't read him as clearly as she could his child; the man was loose limbed and smiling, but there was a shadow in his optics that hinted at some hidden emotion, but she could not place just what that emotion was.

"We have read Soundwave's report from this mornings breakfast service. I did not realize you humans had so many rules when it comes to cooking."

Kat grunted softly, simply nodding as she began to explain.

"It is very different from what you are accustomed to. Our kitchen is especially fast paced and mass production kitchens need to be ran differently than kitchens in a usual home. Numbers are a must and inventory is an absolute necessity. The disaster area you lot call a kitchen would be shut down within moments of an inspector setting foot in there. Rust, missing labels, cross contamination, in short, it was disgusting, and I wouldn't allow Bob to eat off those floors."

Both Galvatron and Megatron winced, clearly neither thought that their kitchens was not as bad as the woman not allowing Bob, the Autobot insecticon, to touch anything. Galvatron huffed softly as he relaxed back into his own chair, lacing his fingers as he stared at her with a look that sent warning bells blaring into her ears.

"I have just received notice that our usual distributor has canceled our contract, we were hoping you would be able to change his mind. Since we are clearly not his favorite beings right now, we are going to send you to deal with him. Soundwave is waiting for you in the main hangar."

Taking a dismissal from both rulers turning away from her, Kat bowed and left out the door which she came from. Glancing to her right, she snarled at Predaking, the huge mech standing next to the door, clearly waiting for her to exit.

"If you're going to tear me apart for snapping and shoving you away, save it. I need to punch a bastard in the face and get a fragging shipment sent in asap or its my aft on the fragging line. So, do me a favor and save my sudden death till after I get back."

Not waiting for a response, she spun away and jogged towards the hangar. She knew she wasn't going to get the bastard to work with her, so she was going to do the next best thing.

"Soundwave!" Her voice rang through the hangar as she jogged in, the mech pausing in his calculations to look over his shoulder plate at her as she came to a stop beside him.

"Change of plans. Send me to these co-ordinates, I know I can get better help from these people then that bastard Megatron and Galvatron were working with."

Thankfully the mech didn't question her, even allowing her to tap in the co-ordinates having learned to write and read Cybertronian from Brainstorm and Que. Neither moved as the ground bridge swirled to life, Kat running a gentle hand over the silent third in commands armored thigh as she stepped away and through the groundbridge. Thankfully, those who were around to witness the blue swirling vortex burst to life out of thin air didn't think much of it, instead smiling and yelling greetings as she stepped through, her tiny form taken to the ground by two bulky beings in a tangle of flailing limps and muffled cussing.

"Damn it Benny! Curtis! Get your heavy asses off me!"

Benjamin and Curtis Cutter grinned down at her with matching mischief twinkling in their eyes. The twins had designated themselves her guardians after they met up in Basic, taking their self-appointed roles as her protectors, even if she really didn't need them. They took that protection to the point that she wasn't able to move about the base without at least one of them glued to her side. They even went so far that they refused to allow Jedidiah to even speak to her until after they had deemed him good enough.

"We won't move till you tell us where the hell you've been! We rang up the Autobot base, but a very disappointed Bumblebee informed us you were sent to the Decepticons! What the hell woman! Can't pick up a phone?"

Groaning, Kat lashed out, capturing both males ears and delivering a violent twist to the sensitive appendage. Both men howled as they rolled off her, the woman not releasing her grip as she stood, forcing both to fallow her onto their knees as they whimpered and pleaded for her to release them from their punishment. Kat rolled her eyes at their whimpers, giving each another harsh twist as she spoke.

"Chill your tits ladies! I volunteered to go to the Decepticon base, and lords above help me, they need some serious help. Now, I am here to speak with my twin and hopefully get something set up since apparently the guy who the Decepticons used to go to for their food shipments decided he was going to be a douche bag and stop business with them."

Both boys rubbed their accosted ears as they growled softly, walking with her across the tarmac as she made her way towards the outcropping of buildings that made up the base.

"Not cool man, not cool. I know they can be bastards at times, but damn! You can't just suddenly cancel a contract like that! Oh yeah, heads up, Hawk arrived this morning, he misses you."

Kat's steps faulter only slightly before she broke into a full run, eager to see the man she called a father figure. Jedidiah Hawk had been her CO for most of her military career, and had been a gentle hand and firm words when things got rough. He was a good man, she had even went so far as to suggest that he and her old team get a transfer to the Autobot base. Prowl hadn't been all too keen on gaining even more humans to the base, but after she had explained just how she knew the men she suggested joining the Autobot ranks, Prowl had been more than willing to put in the paperwork.

Making her way through the maze of hallways, Kat smirked at the woman standing before her talking to none other than Jedidiah Hawk himself. It had been far too long since she had seen them both, but it was a sight that warmed her to the bottom of her soul.

"Kitty!"

The womans head jerked in her direction, matching green eyes widening as a huge smile split her face. Tossing her paperwork away Kitty barreled into Kat, both laughing happily as they clung to each other.

"Kat! Oh my god! How are you? Is Megatron as hot in person as he is on tv?"

Laughing at her sisters serious tone of voice and Hawks chuckles over their shoulder Kat pulled away with a serious look on her face.

"He's handsome, sure. Galvatron on the other hand has an ass of the gods! Round, perky, and so tight you could bounce a quarter off those buns! Yum!"

Laughing, both girls hugged again before they parted, both looking over the other. It was a tradition of theirs. Any time they hadn't seen each other in a long time, they would check the other over for any visible scars, making sure the other hadn't been hurt. Seeing nothing that could cause worry, Kat turned her attention to the salt and pepper haired marine waiting patiently for his turn. Hawk may be breaking forty, but he was a handsome man. Standing at six foot two, salt and pepper hair was an inch longer then regulations allowed but it accented his sun kissed skin, mercury colored eyes and fit physic. Pulling away from her twin, Kat buried her face into his wide chest as he wrapped her in a crushing hug, the scent of gun oil and clove cigarettes filled her lungs, setting her at ease as they separated once more.

"Its damn good to see you again. Both of you. And as much as I want to spend more time talking to the both of you, I am here on a mission. I need a new supplier and I need a full shipment today."

Kitty grinned as she hooked her arm around her twins, happily yanking the stunned woman along with her while the trio of men trailed behind them after shooting each other rolled eyes and soft smiles.

"Not to worry twin oh my twin! I just so happened to have a supplier who would be more then happy to deal with you and the Decepticons and I just so happen to have gotten an extra shipment of stuff that my ex assistant thought we needed. Damn fool didn't know how to read a memo and ended up ordering three times the amount we actually needed! And we happen to have a base full of strapping young men who would be more than eager to aid a damsel in distress! Lemme see your list and we can cross check it with what I got."

Chuckling, Kat allowed her twin to drag her along, listening with only half an ear as she happily babbled, her exuberance making Kat smile softly. She hadn't seen her twin sister in over six months, the separation getting to both of them whether they wanted to admit it or not.

While Kat had taken the route of a Marine, going so far as to get accepted into the Green Berets, Kitty had opted to go Navy, perusing a career in nursing only to be moved up the chain of command to handle and run her own base. Her twins strategic mind didn't at all match her bubbly outwards appearance. They shared the same height, weight, eye and hair color, but what differed them from the other was Kat's fine dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose and Kitty's hair length. Where she kept hers in a short pixie, Kitty had grown hers to her hips, the French braid of hair falling down her back in a flashy display of copper. She was grateful that she and her twin got along better then the older set of twins within their family. Julia and Maria couldn't be any more different then Kitty and Kat. Maria and Julia were fraternal twins instead of identical, and they couldn't be in the same room without someone leaving it bloody and bruised and the other not leaving at all.

A heavy hand on her shoulder drew her from her thoughts, making her send a soft smile over her shoulder at the man behind her, her own hand lifting to lace her fingers with his own. It felt good to be surrounded by these people again. A little too good. Clenching her jaw, Kat couldn't help but get the gut feeling something was about to go horribly wrong, and judging by the clenching of her gut, it was going to happen sooner than she would have liked.

Soundwave blinked as his comm line crackled to life, a hidden smile tugging his lips as Kat's voice murmured into his audial, requesting a groundbridge and to expect some visitors. It didn't surprise him that it took the woman an hour, from experience he knew Kat was a wonderfully persuasive personality that even he could not deny. Sending the alert out over the open comm lines, he queued up a groundbridge, watching as the swirling vortex came to life at the mouth of the hangar, all optics on the figures making their way through it.

First was Kat, her head bowed as she flipped through a handful of paperwork, at her side a femme that looked strikingly similar, hovering over her shoulder as she pointed over Kat's shoulder at something. Soundwave tilted his head in confusion as he ran a facial recognition search, startled to find this new comer to be Kitty Sunsinger, Kattrina Sunsingers' twin sister. How did he not know that about the woman? The fact that she was able to keep the fact that she had a twin sister startled and intrigued him, his attention diverting as Megatron and Galvatron came into the hangar as a troop of men came through the groundbridge, each carrying boxes or bags, looking to Kat for direction. All Decepticons in attendance couldn't help but pause and watch as the petite woman took command of the men who easily dwarfed her form, but each showing her such respect that they followed every order she called out as she made each man pause at her side, cross checking the paperwork in her hand to the box in theirs before nodding and waving them away. She paused long enough to glance around the hangar, her eyes landing on Steve, making the mech snap to attention.

"Steve, grab the crew and help these guys get this stuff to the kitchen. Leave the dry goods off to the side and have the others work on getting frozen and cold items into the walk in asap."

The mech nodded, dashing forwards to guide the first wave of men through the maze of hallways towards the kitchen. Megatron and Galvatron made their way forwards, both showing obvious signs of shock as Kitty and Kat looked up at their approach. Catching onto their shock, Kitty smiled sweetly as she bounced forwards offering a hand to shake as she introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Kitty Sunsinger, Kat's twin. There is at least another dozen boxes and such but me and mine will get them in here and out of your hair as fast as we can!"

Megatron shook her hand with a blank face while his sire treated her to the same greeting he gave her sister but quickly straightened as Benny and Curtis came jogging back to their sides, both twins offering smiles of silent greeting before addressing the other set of twins.

"Ma'am's, Kat, a mech by the name of Icy says he needs to see you in the kitchen, says something about the paperwork and schedule for the delivery's."

Kat glanced up at the pair before nodding in confirmation as her fingers scrolled through the PADD in her hand, double checking boxes as they were carried past.

"Thanks Curtis, Benny. Go ahead and split, Benny you stay and help Steve and the crew. Curtis, I want you to help Hawk back at the base. Make sure we don't miss anything important."

Both men nodded, Kitty nudging her twin in the ribs. Glaring at the woman in silent question she had to hold onto her training to keep the shock from her face at the sight of none other than Galvatron watching the retreating back of Curtis. Well, more like watching the blond Marines ass encased in his tight camo pants as he walked back towards the groundbridge. Well, that was unexpected but not unwelcomed. From what she had seen, Galvatron was a good mech, level headed and kind, even if he was a bit broken. Benny and Curtis would benefit from a relationship where their partner accepted the fact that the twins usually did everything together, even date the same person. They weren't all that different from split spark twins on Cybertron; often times sharing a partner or preferring each other on most occasions. She still got a little curl of heat in her nether regions when recalling just how she found that out. She wasn't a prude by any stretch of the word, but what she had witnessed that day was still the hottest thing she had witnessed in her life.

Glancing at her twin, Kat smirked at the other woman's huge puppy dog eyes and quivering lip, her silent plea to her twin to allow her to do her absolute favorite past time; playing cupid. Kitty simply adored playing matchmaker, some of her matchmaking actually so spot on the people she got together ended up married in the end. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Kat simply nodded, grinning as her twins pleading face turned into one of pure calculation.

"Don't get too excited, we still have to meet up with Icy. I'm pretty sure he dragged Random and Hothead with him."

Kitty grumbled softly but followed her sister through the maze of hallways towards the huge rec-room/ mess hall, eyeing every mech they passed. As they entered the massive room Kitty froze in shocked awe, not that Kat could really blame her. Hothead was carrying four industrial sacks of flour and sugar like they were pillows on his massive shoulders. The pair watched as the mech easily maneuvered around the mass of people moving in and out of the kitchen, not even breaking a sweat as he deposited his load with the others taking residence in the corner of the kitchen next to the industrial stand mixer. Kat glanced at her twin as she collapsed into her side, eyes wide, jaw dropped and hand pressed against her chest as a red hue quickly over took her cheeks.

"Holy crap on a cracker."

Chuckling at her twins husked words, Kat grinned at Icy and Random strolled forwards, Icy looking over the paperwork in his servo, his optics widening slightly as they lifted and settled on the pair. Random on the other hand was stumped, starring between the two with a confused pout on his faceplates. Kitty cooed softly, her heart melting at the confused puppy look the youngest triplet had on his face.

"Guys meet my twin sister Kitty. Kitty," Before Kat could even finish the introduction Random squealed and leapt into Kitty's arms, sending them crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Looking down at the pair, both Icy and Kat share an exasperated look. Random was seated in Kitty's lap, the mechs arms wrapped around the woman's shoulders as he peppered kisses across her cheek. Kitty looked stunned for all of five seconds before squealing and wrapping her own arms around the squirmy mech.

"Awe! This has to be Random! Sis, why didn't you tell me he was so cute! Can I take him home with me? I'll take good care of him! Swearsies!"

Chuckling, Icy smiled indulgently as both Random and Kitty put on their best puppy dog pouts, eyes glittering as they stared up at them.

"I would rather enjoy allowing you to take him off our servos, but I am afraid I do need him around here."

Kat chuckled herself as she patted the larger mechs back as she addressed them all. "How about visiting? You can have him on certain days, or you can come here and mech-sit while we deal with important stuff. Now, as I was saying. Kitty this is Icy, and the tank was Hothead. They are the Blitzwing triplites."

After getting the pair to separate, Hothead was introduced, and the foursome moved into the kitchen where the small army of men were helping the cons sort and label, many explaining just what they were doing. Kat couldn't help the soft, contented sigh that escaped her lips at the sight. Kitty grinned as she sidled up to her side, waving a small letter beneath her nose to catch her attention.

"Message from Hawk. Said to read it when you were alone. He had to return to our base to grab the others and head towards the Autobots base."

A twinge of disappointment shot through her system. She hadn't seen Hawk in damn near three years, and she had been forced to work through the Beach Day tradition month after month. It killed her slowly every time she missed it. Beach Day had been their tradition, going to the beach house of Hawks family every last weekend of the month. Kitty seemed to sense her turn of mood, gently wrapping her arms around her twin as she nuzzled their cheeks together.

"We have the stuff for a private pizza party. Wanna drag Megatron and Galvatron along and show them how the Sunsinger twins welcome new members to the family?"
Kat stared at her twin in silent shock. She couldn't believe the words that had just escaped her twins mouth. Not the pizza party, that was actually one of their usual traditions, but to invite the power core of the Decepticons in on something so intimate, to invite them into the tight knit community that was their extended family? It didn't sit well with her.

As if seeing her sisters discomfort, Kitty wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing her face into the crook where her neck and shoulder met, just as they had when they were children listening to their parents argue down stairs.

"We don't have to sis. Just a suggestion; if you think they would be willing, invite them in. If not, we can forge on ahead without them. I know it's hard for you to show any other side of yourself to those outside the family, but, try? For me?"

Kat shuddered softly at the softness of her sisters voice, it never set well with her when her sisters voice became that soft tone, her voice colored with insecurity as she second guessed herself.

Closing her eyes, Kat felt herself nodding. "Fine. But you're the one that brings them in, not me! I'll rally the troops to my quarters, you grab the Triplettes and find me once you know something."

Kitty jumped away, going back to her happy go lucky self once more, leaving her twin and the rest of the humans staring after her in silence. Only her twin sister could render a room full of boisterous Marines speechless.

"Pizza party?"

With a single smile from Kat, the room erupted in cheers, the drones confused as the men scrambled to gather up the items that they would need, happily wrangling the vehicons into leading them towards her private quarters, eagerly explaining just what a 'Pizza Party' was. Kat kept glancing over her shoulder, slightly scared as to what her twin sister would say or do to drag the two Leaders of the Decpeticons into their little party. If she could say one thing about her twin, she could say she was tenacious.

Kitty skipped through the halls of the Decepticon base, smiling happily at those she passed, giggling softly at the murmurings of shock and doubletakes that followed her as she passed. It was always fun when her twin happened to forget to mention she had an identical twin. Her smile widened as she came upon the two mechs she was looking for!

Skipping forwards she happily wrapped her arms around the waist of Galvatron, the tall mech chuckling softly as he returned her hug, Megatron starring at her with wide eyes and confused look painted on his face at her actions. She knew that it wasn't every day a small femme was hugging up on the father of an intergalactic warmonger.

"So, here's the skinny! The Sunsingers have a tradition where we accept our soldiers, commanding officers, what have you, into what we call 'Our Family'. Family tradition dictates that we have a pizza party since we haven't been together in the same room in months. You two are joining our little family, don't argue with me cause you won't win! And no amount of pleading, excuses or pouts will get you out of this! Come on! Come on!"

Smiling up at the pair of flabbergasted mechs starring down at her, she released Galvatron only to grab his and Megatron's hand and proceeded to drag the pair through the hallway and towards the sound of laughter and the smell of cooking tomato sauce. Dragging the two in behind her, Kitty grinned at her sister where she stood at her kitchen counter, dough waiting to be spun ready and waiting on the floured surface before her.

"About time you lot showed up! The boys are anxious to see our little show twin oh my twin."

Squealing happily, Kitty released her victims and raced to her sisters side, happily flouring her hands as the mix of Decepticons and Marines gathered on the other side, all excited to see the show. With just a glance both sisters grabbed their dough and tossed it upwards, using only their knuckles to spin the dough into giant spheres.

"Ready?"

"On three!"

On the count of three the twins sidestepped, switching places as their dough spun in the air, deftly catching it against as they stepped into the others place. Laughter and applause erupted throughout the room as the twins happily repeated the move, this time twirling around the other.

Tossing their crusts down, Kat set about sprinkling cheese across the bottom, smirking at the Marines who cheered for stuffed crust while Kitty punched hers out to make thin crust. They worked in tandem, never bumping into the other as they worked, performing a dance as they moved about the small space, Kat welcoming Blackout and Barricade loudly as they two mechs slipped into the crowd, both happily accepting a cube of highgrade as they watched the pair work.

As soon as the pizzas were loaded with sauce and toppings, the room settled around Kat's huge tv, a football game providing background noise as the two worlds came together, Random happily flopping himself across laps, purring at the attention laved onto him by those he was laying across. Barricade and Blackout got into a deep conversation with three Marines, the five comparing battle scars and war stories. Even Galvatron got into a conversation with Benny, Kitty happily nudging her twin over the fact that the pair were sitting hip to hip, Benny with his arm behind Galvatron's shoulders and Galvatron's hand doing a slow spider walk upwards from where it had been resting on the blond Marine's knee.

Megatron even seemed to have gone with the flow, talking quietly with a Marine names Marks, both men chuckling softly over something the other had said. Kat wasn't too sure if this peace was going to last. Her little rag-tag family was the only thing aside from her twin that she actually cared deeply about. If Megatron took it into his mind that he wanted to harm her in the worst way possible, he now had the fodder to do so. She didn't care if she was thrown ass first into the firing line, but when it came to her ragtag and mismatched family, she would do nothing to put them in harms way.

Kitty smirked as the timer dinged on the oven, happily jumping over bodies to grab the delicious pies from their fiery tomb, laughing at the gaggle of bodies that quickly scrambled after her.

"Okay! You lot know the rules! Command gets first crack, then prayer, then we gorge!"

Chuckles rang out as Megatron and Galvatron were pushed forwards, both extracting their choice slices before backing away for the others to claim their own. Once everyone was back in their chosen places hands were clasped and heads bowed as Kat spoke.

"Dear Heavenly Father, Primus and Prima, we thank you for the bounty you have given to us, thank you for good friends, reliable weapons, a shot in space at peace and ice cold beer. Ah-men!"

Chuckles rang out through the room as everyone dug into their pizza, Kat's head jerking up in surprise as Megatrons voice rang out.

"Kattrina, this is delicious!"

Feeling her cheek heat up, Kat ducked her head with a mumbled 'thanks', quickly stuffing half her slice into her mouth so that she didn't have to speak again.

The rest of the night went on without a hitch, laughter and talk filled the room, Galvatron and Megatron nearly rolling on the floor over the absurd stories shared by everyone, even Megatron offered up a few stories sending everyone tumbling into the others around them from laughing so hard. It was nice, to have the laughter and trust growing around her, but for some reason Kat kept getting the feeling deep in her gut that something bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen sooner rather than later.

Kat woke with a start, groaning as her hangover made itself known. Pressing the heel of her hand into her temple, the woman carefully turned over to lie on her stomach, starring out from her perch at the sea of bodies. Last night ended in a blur, all she could really remember was Galvatron and Megatron leaving soon after dinner due to a meeting the next day with Prime and the President. From there she remembered something about highgrade and beer and then it was all a blur. Judging by the bodies scattered around her living room, it was a hell of a night. Hothead and Icy were passed out on the loveseat while Random was cuddled beneath at least three Marines. Her twin was curled up on Barricade's chest while Blackout was leaned up against the couch she rested on, his head tilted back as he snored. She couldn't help but smile as she noticed one of his arms rested along the length of her side, his hand protectively wrapped around one of her wrists. Groaning, Kat dragged herself to her feet, careful to disentangle herself from Blackouts grip without waking him before shuffling and dodging bodies as she went for the coffee machine, which, by Primus' light, was full and hot. Filling a mug, Kat took the time to study the room, smiling as her twin carefully extracted herself from Barricades arms to stumble to her side. Accepting the second mug from her twins hands both leaned heavily onto the counter, sipping their way until the caffeine hit their brains and quelled the raging hangover pounding behind their eyes.

"Well, that, was a good Pizza Night."

Chuckling softly Kat nodded, wincing slightly as her head started to pound once more.

"Yeah, but damn the aftermath always gets me. So, you think Megatron and Galvatron are happy being inducted into our weird as hell family?"

Kitty blinked slowly as she drained her mug, nodding gratefully as her sister refilled it almost instantly.

"I think so, Galvatron seemed pretty happy from the get go, but Megatron needed a little push. I guess seeing we weren't a bunch of pansies, that all of us have been through combat helped a lot. I still can't believe there was a gladiator pit on Cybertron. Guess that's another thing our races have in common."

"Yeah, the inherent blood lust. From what I've heard he was the first to win his way out of the arena, that's how he met and befriended Soundwave."

Their conversation stopped as groans and snorts filled the room, hinting that the others were waking up. Without needing to share a word the twins started making up breakfast as mechs and Marines stumbled into chairs or flopped into seated positions on the couch, singing praises as plates piled with food and mugs of coffee was passed over.

The morning after any Pizza Night was laced with silence as they settled after releasing so much tension. They had missed the others, and Pizza Night had always been a way for them to reconnect, reestablish and make sure that the others were all there, emotionally, mentally and physically. The groups parted ways early in the morning, Soundwave being kind enough to open a groundbridge for them, the stoic mech being caught by surprise when Kitty wrapped him in a hug, thanking him for looking after her twin so well. Kat had smirked as the stoic TIC wrapped his armored arms around the woman against him and nodded.

"Kat: Family. Kitty: Kat's family. Kitty and Kat: Soundwave's family. Soundwave's family: loved."

Hugging her twin one last time, Kat waved them off with a smile and a sigh. She would miss them, but if things were going to keep going the way they had been, she was hopeful to see them more than she had ever been able to in the past.

The day moved on from there, but thanks to the high command being out for the day, the Decepticons as a whole chose to slump in their duties and take the day off. Kat had decided to let her crew of eight make something easy for lunch. Sandwiches, the easiest thing to make on the planet. After a quick search of the walk in she had decided that PB&J was the menu for the day. Bread and filling, nothing that could possibly go wrong.

She left them alone for four hours, four bloody hours, and what does her kitchen crew go and do? Set the damn kitchen counter on fire, that's what!

Kat snarled as she hosed down the fire with the only fire extinguisher in the entire ship, Steve flailing around behind her as he tried to fan the flames away which only made the situation worse. Kat had made the mistake of allowing the mechs to make lunch unsupervised, how complicated could it possibly be to make fragging sandwiches, while Megatron and Galvatron were off on their meeting with Barack, but low and behold, they can't even manage to make sandwiches without setting something on fire! She had been relaxing in her quarters, her comm. sitting in her lap, a cube of energon at her side, when a tall and slender mech stormed in, screeching about a fire in the kitchens. Dropping everything, Kat found her crew running around like idiots while a fire blazed on the countertop. Grabbing the fire extinguisher placed next to the door, Kat jumped into action, soot and smoke clinging to her skin and lungs as finally, the fire sputters out. Tossing away the now empty canister, Kat turned around, her face blank as she moved through the masses of mechs that had stood around the wide-open doors to watch the whole fiasco, stopping only in front of the mech that had come racing into her quarters.

The mech was tall and slender, but built like a boxer, his head covered with gravity defying black hair with a single streak of red breaking up the sea of onyx. Bright red optics stared down at her as a frown pulled at his thin lips. Even in holoform, Kat could tell this mech was Starscream with a blind fold on from three miles away.

"Supreme Air commander Starscream, I am asking that you remove me from duty for the next 24 hours. If you do not lock me in my quarters with a cube of high-grade I will kill someone. And if I can be so bold, I demand you make it a double."

Starscream smirked but said nothing, instead turned, offered her a bent arm in which she laid her hand delicately, and moved her through the crowd of on lookers. They didn't speak, although it confused Kat when they bypassed her quarters all together and moved towards the back of the base that emptied out into their airstrip. With a sideways glance, Starscream simply shrugged as he told her it was his duty as SIC to handle the troops while the command was out. She was going to be locked into quarters, just not her quarters.

Starscreams' trines' quarters location shouldn't have surprised her none, since Starscream and his trine were all seekers, they would constantly feel the need to be up in the air. Ratchet had explained it to her once when she had noticed that Bluestreak got antsy during a rather long meeting, all but scrambling out the door as soon as Prime released them. Ratchet explained that for a Seeker, it was a need just like a humans need to breath. It wasn't an option, it was a necessity, otherwise they would go ground crazy. It was like a crack addict going through withdrawals, but it didn't get better, it just got worse and worse until the mech ultimately lost their mind.

Snapping from her thoughts, Kat found herself in a huge open living room, Starscream gently depositing her onto a plush couch where another mech, this time with a purple streak in his main of black hair joined her, a bowl and cloths in his servos and a gentle smile on his face.

"Hello Kattrina, I am Skywarp. May I?"

"Nice to meet you Skywarp, please call me Kat."

Tilting her head, the femme purred as a warm wet wash cloth moved across her cheek, clearing away the soot that clung to her skin. Sudden hands lifting her leg had her eyes snapping open, she didn't even realize she had closed them, to find the third seeker kneeling before her, long dexterous digits working the laces of her boots easily. This mech had to be Thundercracker, his hair sporting a blue streak. The mech smiled up at her wickedly as he pulled her boots from her feet, but before she could protest the mech was digging his thumbs into her foot, making the femme all but melt. Oh, dear Primus that felt heavenly!

Her eyes opened as the cushion beneath her ass shifted as Starscream settled down beside her, a large cube being offered to her; the high grade was a light pink color and was fizzing slightly as it shifted in its container. Taking a hesitant sip, Kat blinked at the slow burning tingle that worked its way across her tongue and down her throat as she continued to sip at her first cube of high grade. Being pampered by three purring seekers and a seemingly always full cube of high grade, Kat didn't care if the world was coming to a fiery end, she wasn't moving.

Megatron stared at the video feed of the kitchen, a snarl pulling at his lips. He had heard of the fire that had taken place in his absence; he was silently grateful Kat had kept her head and put it out before it could get any worse.

He and his sire had arrived fifteen minutes ago only to find the crew working at clearing the air of smoke and the eight mech crew of the kitchen glumly scrubbing away at fire damage. He had snarled and rampaged demanding an explanation until his sire had stepped in. One swift slap to the back of his helm rendered him speechless as the mechs quickly explained what had happened. Soundwave had stepped forward then, opening up the surveillance system and played the footage for them all to see.

After watching the video feed he could not blame the crew, ultimately it wasn't their fault. However, what did infuriate him was the obvious evidence that it wasn't the vehicons who had started the fire, no it was an all too familiar femme with a head of long black hair. He had hoped she had been offlined a long time ago, but clearly, he was not in the favor of Primus at the moment. Arachnid was better off dead, but like the Earth cockroach, she was far too hard to kill. Moving from his position among the crowd of muttering mechs he growled softly at Soundwave, the mech unflinching beneath his Master's glare.

"Soundwave, where is Kat?"

The reply was instantaneous and a mildly unsettling; "Kattrina: Location. Location: Seeker trines quarters."

Taken aback by the answer, Megatron wasn't sure what he was going to see as he moved through the base. Starscream and his trine had become notorious for inviting mechs to their quarters. Once they were done with their conquest, the mech was tossed out into the hallway, usually without clothing. He wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of the femme running around his base with no clothing, not with his sire practically drooling over the femme and her kitchen crew trialing after her like a trail of ducklings. The affection his vehicons were showing towards the femme was borderline bizarre. The eight mechs were acting like they had never seen a femme before.

Pausing midstride, Megatron frowned at himself. Actually, he did understand why they followed her around, hanging on every word she spoke. Pizza Night had opened his optics, cracked through his CPU and broke down his defenses. She and her twin, their entire 'family', they were warriors. They fought and killed, they bore the scars of combat, but they were able to smile. They were able to smile, and laugh, and joke, the shadows of their pasts never once entering their eyes. No, the only things that shone in their eyes as they spoke of the past battles they had endured was hope, joy, happiness. It became obvious to him as they spoke and laughed, touching each other, that they drew their strength from the others around them, looking towards Kitty and Kat to lead them through the shadows and back into the light. After only two days, watching her, how she moved, how she spoke, how she dealt with any and every situation thrown at her, Megatron was willing to admit that Kat was something unique.

Stopping in front of the trines door, he was almost stunned not to find a naked femme in front of it. Shaking himself, the mech palmed the door open, only to freeze four steps in. The sight before him was like nothing he had ever seen before in his long, long life span.

The femme, by all accounts the fiercest, and incredibly independent human Autobot on the face of this planet, was wide awake, calmly sipping from a cube of high grade, her bare feet resting comfortably on the stone coffee table before her. It wasn't the fact that she was still fully clothed, and the scent of interface wasn't in the air, but it was the fact that the seeker trine was using her as their own personal pillow. Starscream was practically wrapped around the femme, his face pressed against the side of her throat with his arms securely wrapped about her middle, one of her own wrapped around him in a clear move that made sure he did not slide in his sleeping position. Her other side was Thundercracker, his head cradled in the femmes lap. Skywarp was draped over her extended legs, his face pressed into her thighs, a stupid smile spread on his face, his arms entangled with her legs. Kat looked up at him, her green eyes only slightly hazy from her consumption of the highgrade.

"Kattrina, why the frag are you energized in the seekers quarters?"

His voice didn't come out as the roar he had intended it to be, instead it came out softer, something the femme raised a brow at but did not comment on thank Primus. With his CPU spinning like it was, he wasn't sure he could come up with a plausible excuse for his actions.

"It has been a very long, and very trying day Lord Megatron. After my kitchen crew attempted to burn the kitchen down, all I wanted was a cube of high grade. The trine was kind enough to invite me. They got over energized and fell asleep. Light weights."

Megatron frowned at her slightly slurred speech, but there was no indication that she was completely over energized like the seekers. Something sizzled down his spinal strut at her entire demeanor. She sat like a queen on her throne, surrounded by her concubines, lavished in attention and affection, looking as aloof and in control of her surroundings from where she sat.

As she damned well should be.

He nearly jerked at that thought, his CPU spinning slightly as it tried to right itself once more. No, he couldn't think that, he should not think that. Clearing his throat, he scrambled to cover himself, and he was thankful for her slightly inebriated state. It appeared she had not caught his blunder, and he planned on keeping it that way.

"It wasn't your 'crew' as you so call them that started that fire. It was a femme, Arachnid."

The woman bolted upwards, uncaring at the mechs that went sprawling to the floor, their shouts of pain and indignation going completely ignored by the woman as she strode forwards, murder in her optics. Even though the top of her head barely brushed his chest, the pure rage that burned in her optics made him want to take a step back and grovel at her peddes.

"Did you just say Arachnid? That fragging spider bitch is still fragging alive? How?"

Megatron stared down at the femme before him, unsure of the sudden curl of pure lust that unfurled within his chest. There standing before him, wasn't the once soft looking Autobot femme sipping highgrade while being smothered by affectionate seekers. No, standing now before him was a soldier, a hardened being that wasn't afraid of the deadliest assassin within the ranks of the Decepticons. Hard green eyes sparked with a hidden rage that took his breath away as the low lights of the room set her copper hair on fire, giving her every image of an avenging goddess of war, coming from the heavens above to bring her wrath down upon those that had earned her rage. By Primus she was stunning! Clearing that thought from his mind, Megatron stared down at the fiery femme before him as he spoke in a quiet tone.

"I do not know of her exact location at the moment. But the moment she is spotted, you will be notified. I can assume that you and the spider have a history?"

Her face turned from that of an avenging goddess to a stony mask as Thundercracker draped himself across her shoulders, smirking at the frown on his leader's face. The femme did not respond, instead turned around to press her face into the seekers chest, willingly giving herself over to the trine that now surrounded her, cuddling and cooing, petting and stroking as they coaxed her back to her place on their couch. After thoroughly draping themselves across her petite form, Kat sighed as her face took on a faraway gaze, giving away nothing as she petted Starscreams' head.

As Megatron watched on, he could not place why this scene did not upset him. There, before him was an Autobot femme whom was sent to aid him, but now sat with his Supreme air commander and his trine, allowing the seekers to smother her in their Seekers ways. This hardened soldier was allowing herself to be petted and cooed at, taking it all with an air of aloofness as she sipped from her cube of highgrade. From everything he had heard about the femme, this display was out of the norm for her. Something had clearly happened, something had shifted within this mysterious woman, something that caused her to seek out and accept the smothering affections of the Seekers. Making up his mind, Megatron simply turned and left the femme and seekers to do as they would.

He himself had a spider to hunt down and squash.

Meanwhile at the Autobot base…

Will moved through the base as fast as he could, his long legs no match for those of the mech striding confidently before him. Even from behind, Will had to admit that Ironhide's holoform was a very sexy man in his late thirties.

Strong wide shoulders fed down into an equally wide and muscular chest that lead down to a narrow waist and long legs. Ironhide glanced over his shoulder at the human attempting to keep up with him, icy blue eyes glinting with mirth as a smile stretched across his full tan lips that had a scar cutting through the right side. Fuck, that mech could make Will's heart double time with just a look, and it killed him a little every time he saw the mech flirt with Chromia.

Sure Will had been married, sure he had a daughter, but he had known from a young age that he swung both ways, but had always preferred the work roughened hands of a man over the small and soft ones of a woman. He had dabbled in college, and one drunk night he slipped up and got Sarah pregnant. He had done the right thing by her and marrying her, joining up and providing, but he wasn't ever truly happy. After the grand reveal and Annabelle's little 'incident' as people were calling it, Sarah had gone on a rampage.

The moment he and the convoy arrived back at base Sarah had descended on him like a raging beast, calling him all sorts of names, demanding to know just what else he had been hiding from her for all these years. He had attempted to calm the blond woman down, seeing as her rage was terrifying their child, but Sarah had been like a dog with a bone. She hadn't dropped the subject, even going so far as to slap Optimus when he had attempted to step in and defuse the situation.

That had been a mess all on its own! Ratchet had to hold back half the Autobots from killing the blond, but Will had slammed his 'soldier face' down, snatched Annabelle from the insane woman's arms and had her arrested on the spot for assaulting the Autobot leader. Things had went down from there, and Will was proud to say that he was now getting a divorce and Annabelle had been firmly put into his care.

"Come on Will, we need to great our new recruits. I heard they were once Kat's teammates."

If it wasn't the sound of the gruff voice paired with that lopsided smirk the mention of Kat's beloved teammates joining the ranks made the man pick up his pace and snap out of his train of thought. Kat hadn't shared much about her past, but she loved talking about the soldiers from her home unit, or, as she had lovingly dubbed them, 'her boys'. The only way they had managed to even wrestle the information from her was after a New Year's Eve party where the trio was doing shots for most of the night. Kat, thoroughly sloshed but still cognitive, had spilled just a breath of info about her unit.

From what they had wrenched from the tight-lipped cook was that her CO, General Hawk, was her commanding officer, but by all accounts, he was more a member of the team than a commanding officer who shouted orders from behind his desk. According to Kat, Hawk was more of the type of CO that was right there in the thick of things with his people, unafraid to get his hands dirty. Will would admit only under duress that he did do a search on the man, and had found more and more info on him, and everything he found Will Lennox liked.

Dashing into the main hangar the human grinned at the foursome of men standing in the center of the hangar, faces tired, fatigues looking rumpled while hair stood at odd angles from where they had slept on their ruck sacks during the long flight to the middle of the badlands. Automatically he knew who the infamous General Hawk was among the four men; standing a head above them all, salt and pepper hair just an inch longer than regulations complimented the tanned skinned face that harbored laugh lines around his mouth and crow's feet crinkling at the corners of his silver-grey eyes. Despite his obvious age, his uniform didn't hide his muscled arms and chest, clear signs of a military man who could keep up with the younger grunts without much effort not at all like the fat cats that made up his chain of command.

Striding towards the man Will snapped a salute that was returned, but was quickly exchanged for a smile and a calloused hand to shake.

"You must be Will Lennox, good ta meet you. Siren couldn't stop singing you praises. I'm Gunnery Sargent Jedidiah Hawk, leader of Demon Company, but everyone calls me Jedidiah."

Will beamed as he shook the strong hand offered to him, introductions made, Ironhide lifting an impressed brow when he was introduced and none of the four men flinched or argued that he couldn't be an Autobot. They easily integrating into the masses of humans and Autobots as the pair gave the foursome of new recruits a ten cent tour of their new home. Leading them through the base Will and Ironhide shared a grimace as they stopped in front of the medical bay doors.

"Hate to do this, but Ratchet wanted to give you all work ups, so, good luck. Just, do what he says, don't argue and remember to duck. Bye guys!"

The foursome watched as the human and mech made a mad dash down the hall, glancing at each other before shrugging, Maximus stepped forwards to knock on the dual doors bearing a red cross on their white surface. The big man stepped back as a gruff looking man shoved the door open, nearly smacking the Native man in the face as he glared at the foursome before him, his eyes pausing for a moment too long on Hawk before his snarled.

"What is it? I'm busy!"

All four fought to keep the smiles from their faces. It was always a good thing to have a grumpy medic. The golden rule was, the grumpier the medic, the finer that medic was, and how much he truly cared about those in his care.

"Sorry sir, Major Lennox informed us that we needed to report to you for full medical work ups."

The man blinked before nodding. "Good. I'm Ratchet, CMO of Delta base. Get your afts in here, pick a bed and strip your shirts off."

Before Ratchet could warn them not to test him or complain, the foursome placed their ruck sacks against the wall, well out of the way before trooping in, all four working their uniform shirts from their pants as they hopped onto human sized medical berths without complaint or question. Honestly stunned by the lack of contempt he was so accustomed too, Ratchet moved to the first man nearest the door. Ginger haired, pale green optics, and pale white skin spotted with freckles, the mech smiled at the grumpy medic as he handed Ratchet his medical folder without even having to be asked.

"Lance Corporal Liam Swatch, sir."

Nodding, Ratchet went through the motions, not at all surprised by the scar tissue dotting the lean figure seated before him. What did surprise him was that there were no complaints, no excuses to dash out, nothing. All four sat quietly and patiently for their turn, then simply handed over their folders along with their names and ranks. After clearing Liam, Ratchet met Dexter Dupont, the shortest of the group, of African American decent, bright amber eyes winking up at him as the medic looked him over. Maximus Black Feather stood out simply because he was the first Native American Ratchet had ever met. The man was built like Ironhides holoform, but his hazel eyes resonated a kindness in them that brought an honest smile to Ratchets face. After finishing with Maximus, Ratchet shooed them away, frowning as he came to the last in the group.

"Gunnery Sargent Jedidiah Hawk, sir."

Ratchet's head jerked up at the purring voice, wide cobalt blue eyes meeting soft silver-grey, the other mech simply sitting there before him, a little smile tugging at his lips as Ratchet scrambled to get his CPU to work again. Ratchet may have been an old mech, but he knew a good looking mech when he saw one, and the specimen before him was one of the finest he had seen in a while, human or otherwise.

Setting the file aside, Ratchet tried to keep his mind solely on the task at hand, but Primus, the feel of that scar littered muscled flesh beneath his sensitive servos was sending his spark fluttering in the strangest ways. His fingers couldn't help but trace over the long-jagged scar that cut across the whole of his chest. This scar should have meant the mech seated so calmly before him should have been off lined. The sheer amount of will this human possessed to survive such a fatal wound made a little shudder of appreciation traverse down the mechs spinal strut.

"Got that from a saber in the hands of a chieftain that didn't take my refusal to marry his daughter to kindly."

Looking up, Ratchet felt himself root to the very spot by those silver-grey optics as they clashed so perfectly with his own sapphire blue. Primus he could drown in those optics and never care about his demise; hidden within their glinting depths he could see the very soul of this human, so loving and giving. Shaking himself mentally, Ratchet did his best to sneer, but it was only half-sparked.

"What, the femme not up to your liking?"

Jedidiah Hawk smiled full out right, that dazzling display sending Ratchet's spark throbbing and CPU swirling, his gruff chuckle making his spark give a heavy lunge in his chest, making the mech wince and frown at his sparks strange reaction. His attention was quickly recaptured by that husky chuckle, lifting his head to find those silver- grey eyes twinkling at him with a little smile pulling at lips.

"No, she was a lovely creature, beautiful really. But I prefer men to women; he didn't like the fact that I was more interested in his son than his daughter. Out there such things get you killed."

Ratchet's spark did that strange little flip and shudder again, making the mech blink slowly before frowning as a flush of energon work its way up the back of his neck to dance across his cheeks. He found he couldn't break eye contact with the mech seated so calmly in front of him, his hand resting flush with the chest before him, his fingers twitching at the steady heartbeat beneath his fingertips. Primus, this mech was breathtaking.

The sound of the med bay doors swinging open snapped them out of whatever was holding them, Ratchet quickly snatching his hand away as he cleared his throat, trying to cover up his misstep. Never had he ever acted like that around a patient! Humiliated, Ratchet spun back to his tried and true way of dealing with everything that came through his medbay.

"All of you are the pinnacles of health. You're free to go, and so help me Primus, if I see any of you in here any time soon I will wrench you into next year!"

Hawk smiled softly as he pulled the black t-shirt over his head once more, giving Ratchet an optic full of that chest full of muscles rippling beneath that tanned skin. Grabbing his uniform top, Hawk slipped off the medical berth without a sound, nodding to Jazz as he passed the mech, pausing long enough to snatch up his ruck sack to disappear down the hall, leaving a bewildered Jazz and a very uncomfortable Ratchet staring after his camo covered back. Things were going to get very interesting from here on out, and Primus help him, Ratchet was just a little excited to see what the future now held.

Optimus sat behind his desk locked in his office, optics down cast, his CPU a swirl of thoughts and revelations, his fingers stroking over the manila folder resting almost innocently on the hard wood of the desk before him. Everything that had been revealed to him by President Obama and Galvatron had thrown him through several loops.

During the meeting with President Obama, the President had asked about Kattrina's new position at the Decepticon base. Galvatron and Barrack had chuckled over the fights that had taken place, Optimus listening in horror.

When he had attempted to apologize for the ill behavior of his subordinate, all three men laughed at him. Utterly confused, Optimus had asked just why Megatron and the Decepticons weren't offended by the womans actions.

Barrack had shared a knowing look with the Decepticons before handing him the manila folder, insisting he wait till he was in his own base to read it.

Once he had returned, he had done just that. He locked himself into his office, ordered not to be disturbed, and he had read it, reread it, and had promptly collapsed into his office chair, staring down at the profile of the woman known as Kattrina Leona Sunsinger in shock and awe.

Proud but never egotistical, she had fought tooth and nail for everything she had. She wasn't above those around her, she would slog through the mud to get the job done. Her entire personality was something he would admit, he found attractive. Kattrina was more than willing to put others before herself, willing to sacrifice herself so others could live. She had proven this when, nine years ago she surrendered herself to the enemy so that her unit could escape. She willingly handed herself over to the worst of her kind with the knowledge that she may have never walked out of their camp alive. The sheer fact that she had indeed walked out, beneath her own power, made her way through one of the most desolate landscapes on the planet, and took only a week to gather herself to the point she felt comfortable enough to step back into the field of combat.

What truly stunned him was the fact that she had willingly stepped into an alien war without a second thought, she stepped up in ways that none of the other humans had been willing too. She had faced down Soundwave with a courage that only a Prime could hold. She argued with Ratchet, used logic and pure words to make her point. How could he not have remembered her voice? She had scaled that building free handed, looked up into Ratchets face plates and didn't flinch or move an inch as she spoke. Her voice steady and sure, never raising, she spoke to him like a leader, like a Prime. Crass and rude, but she had made her point.

A knock jerked him from his thoughts, wide sapphire optics blinking rapidly before he scooped up the file and pressed into the drawer open at his side as he called out a shaky 'Enter'.

Looking up, Optimus took in the mech standing in the doorway. Tall for a human, a head full of salt and pepper hair, twinkling silver eyes met his without fear or hesitation, an easy smile tugged at the man's lips as he moved further into his office. His stride was confident, but showed he wasn't over confident; he knew he was powerful, but he didn't gloat about his power. Standing, Optimus offered a hand to shake, his eyebrows raising at the strength held within his hard, worn hand. His grip was sure, just enough pressure to it before it was dropped.

"I'm Master Gunnery Sargent Jedidiah Hawk, leader of Demon Company. Good to see you again Prime."

Snapping out of his stupor, the Prime nodded to him with his own welcoming smile. "Good to see you again too, sir. I am pleased to see you and your team accepted my proposal to join our base."

Jedidiah sunk down into one of the chairs, his eyes going hard as they met the Primes' once more. Optimus slowly sank down into his own chair, a stone of pure dread settling deep into his tanks as the mech before him rested his elbows on his knees, his face burying themselves into his hands as she slowly scrubbed his face. Optimus sat back, watching the hardened soldier before him, his optics locking with his as he finally lifted his head once more.

"I will be the first to admit, we accepted this assignment not just because Kat was here. We were sent here by Obama, we are here to help you to prepare for what is going to come."

Optimus watched as he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket along side a photo. Hawk paused, staring down at it with a sorrow that brought even more dread to the Prime as it was slowly handed to him.

"His name is Leland Bishop, code name Cylus. He was a member of my team at the same time as Kat. He welcomed her at first, but somehow, over time, he developed a romantic affection towards her. Kat didn't feel the same and had said so. At first, I thought Bishop was taking it well. He had gotten a girlfriend, they had been going steady for a few months, but when we got sent on a deep undercover mission to Brazil, things, things changed, and something inside him just snapped."

Taking a deep breath, he continued, his eyes going distant as Optimus read over the heavily redacted mission debrief, his own eyes widening, his head jerking up to stare at the man seated before him. Jedidiah nodded solemnly, already knowing what the Prime was so stunned about.

"We never found out how they met each other, but all I know is, if Bishop is back, then so is she."

Optimus frowned at first, but soon his face dawned once his CPU caught up with just who Jedidiah Hawk was talking about. His bright blue optics met his own hard silver across the expanse of his desk, asking the silent question that the other man simply nodded too.

"Yeah. Her. We were ambushed, Bishop played torturer alongside her. That woman, she is sadistic, sickly so. I think it seriously pissed her off when Kat didn't respond to her threats to kill me. She took some serious pleasure in torturing me in front of Kat, but I think the woman was expecting her to fight harder to protect me. Before that airstrike came through, she swore up and down that she would come back, and she would make her pay for killing her fun. Whatever the hell that means. Either way, we are all in for a world of hurt if she is seriously coming back. Marcus has always had a thing for Kat. When she finally kicked his ass he realized she would never see him as anything more than a fellow soldier, I think that is what broke him. The spider just took him and turned him against us."

Optimus nodded solemnly, his own optics down cast as his CPU took in the information given to him. If Arachnid was truly back, and back for revenge, this tender peace between the factions was sure to fall to pieces; unless Kat could somehow manage to keep the peace. Literally. Nodding to himself, the mech met Hawks hard gaze.

"I will warn Kat of the situation. I hope she will be able to handle herself in a situation like this."

Optimus jerked back in his chair as the other man leapt to his feet, his silver eyes hard as ice as they bored into his own blue as he slammed his hands down onto the desk between them, snarling.

"Do not, for a single moment, think that woman cannot handle anything that is thrown at her. She has handled situations that were far more delicate than this before without ruffling a single feather. Kat isn't just another soldier beneath your command Prime. She is a one of a kind human being and you should count yourself damn lucky for having the chance to have her on your base. No, I will call her, although, knowing her, she already knows."

Optimus sank back in his chair, the man's words cutting through him like energon blades, but his last statement had the Prime leaning forwards with a frown.

"How is it possible that she could already know?"

"Are you kidding? That woman has a network of informants spanning the globe, many of them in positions of power. If there was anything going on in the world, I would bet dollars to donuts she already knows about it. Not to mention she has the hacking skills that could rival Soundwaves. And we both know that's saying something. Good bye Prime. I will send you a message once I have confirmed with Kat."

Optimus allowed himself to bang his forehead against his desk as the door slammed shut behind a now irate Jedidiah Hawk. Scrap, frag, pit, why did he keep making mistakes when it came to Kattrina Sunsinger? It was already clear the femme could easily handle herself in a battle environment, as well as a foreign environment, but frag it, he didn't know she had a spy network to rival Mirage's! Straightening once more and rubbing a hand over the sore spot on his forehead, Optimus sighed as he went back through all the files pertaining to one Kattrina Leona Sunsinger, and moving into cyberspace to dig a bit deeper to make sure he didn't make many more mistakes in the future.

As he went through the few pictures he could dig up, he found most of them included the members of the Autobots. Ratchet the most predominant in them, but there was something so familiar about her face, he knew it from somewhere.

When realization hit him it was like Megatron had smacked him over the back of the head with his fusion cannon; of course! That's where he recognized her! She had been that cook that had delivered his meals whenever he had missed dinner.

It was another late night, Optimus was behind his desk as per usual, filling out reports and reading over others. A knock broke the relative silence and without even a glace upwards he called out.

"Enter."

The door was nudged open, booted footsteps sounded before the PADD was gently tugged from his grip and replaced with a cube of energon.

Frowning, Optimus looked up into a pair of sparkling green optics.

"Sorry sir, but you skipped lunch and dinner. Ratchet was ready to come in here and beat you with his beloved wrench. So, please, eat, drink some energon, and head to berth. These reports can wait till morning."

He couldn't believe this femme would demand him to do anything, but whatever was on the covered tray in her hand smelled incredible. Optimus blushed as his tanks rumbled, demanding he indulge in what she was offering.

Chuckling softly, the woman removed the lid to the tray and placed it before him, turning on her heel and leaving without another word.

This pattern held for the next two months. The woman would come into his office, pulling whatever he had been working on out of his servo to replace it with a cube of energon and a tray of hot, delicious food was placed in front of him before she left without another word.

Optimus frowned at the memory, thinking back to those two months. Kat had taken time out of her day to make sure he was fed. She hadn't made a point of attempting to talk to him, just made sure that he was fed and had a steady river of energon. And he, in turn, hadn't even thought to thank the woman who went out of her way to make sure he was cared for when he couldn't pull himself away to care for himself.

With a groan, Optimus faceplanted his desk again. He would have to fix this, he owed her that much.

Hawk moved through the base with a firm frown on his face. He wasn't too happy with the Prime right now. How could anyone in their right mind doubt Siren for even a moment? That woman was hell on wheels when she got rolling, on and off the battlefield. He smirked to himself at the thought of her Decepticon kitchen crew was already trailing after her boot strings like a bunch of baby ducks. As he turned the corner, all thoughts that pertained to Kat flew out the window at the decadent sight before him.

Ratchet was bent over, his white lab coat riding up to reveal his firm ass encased in slacks as he cursed quietly, clearly trying to reach something beneath the couch of the rec-room which was conveniently empty.

Now, Hawk wasn't a young gun any more, but he knew when someone was attracted to him, and Ratchet had sent out every indicator under the light of the sun during his medical examination, or rather, Ratchet staring at him like he was a prime stake and he was a starving man. Hawk shuddered at the memory of the medics warm, long fingers as they had danced across the bare flesh of his chest, his nails scraping gently over the sensitive scar tissue he had found. Mmm, best medical exam in his life. And if he was reading Ratchet correctly, which Hawk knew he was, Ratchet wanted to give him very personal examinations all night long.

Hawk held back a disappointed grunt when the medic released a happy little hum as he straightened, the tv remote in his long-fingered hand. Dear lords above, those hands were going to be the death of him! Long and slender, but so strong, Ratchet's hands were powerful enough to deliver reprimand while at the same time do some of the most delicate work on the face of the planet. Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Hawk moved forwards as Ratchet flung himself down onto the huge plush couch, clearly intent on watching some tv while the others were off doing whatever they were doing.

"Mind if I join you sir?"

Ratchet jumped a little, those beautiful blue eyes flew up to meet his own, and did he detect a hint of a blush on those high cheeks of his? Ratchet just nodded, his eyes quickly turning back to the tv as he flicked through channels, the medic trying to ignore the warm presence that settled down beside him. Finally, Ratchet settled on a movie, having seen nothing else that was remotely good on at this time of day. He frowned as the man and woman smashed their faces together, what the frag were they doing? He had seen some of the soldiers do it on base, and Connell Lennox to his now ex-mate. Kat had explained it to him once after they had finished up one night and she had pressed her lips to his cheek before saying goodnight. He grew accustomed to her human ways of greeting and goodbyes, but he was still confused as to why too humans would smash their lips together.

"Why in Primus' good name do humans do that?"

Hawk glanced over at the good doctor, his brows lifting in silent question at the man seated beside him. Catching the silent question, Ratchet waved at the TV screen as once more the pair smashed their faces together.

"That, why do humans smash their faces together like that?"

Hawk chuckled, easily draping an arm across the back of the couch, unaware of the heat that spread through the medic at his side. "Well, Ratchet," A shudder went through the mech at the sultry purr next to his ear, energon trying to force its way into his cheeks as the handsome man beside him pressed his entire side into his own, the humans body heat seeping easily into his own form, sending his spark fluttering and dancing within his chest as his warm breath danced across the flesh of his cheek and neck.

"When to humans, as you say, smash their faces together, they are kissing. It's a human way of telling our partners we find them desirable. Or, after long time away from each other, it's a silent way of telling them we have missed their presence in our lives."

One glance at the medic, Hawk saw that his words still didn't seem to seep through. A sudden idea flashed through the Marines head, making a smile split his face as he slowly turned to the mech seated beside him.

"How about I show you instead of explaining, Ratchet?"

Ratchet turned his head to question just what the mech meant, but before a single word could escape his mouth a warm but firm hand captured his chin, tilting his face up before a pair of warm, slightly chapped lips gently brushed over his own.

Dear Primus above. His spark shot forwards in his chest plates, his skin flushed with heat as his optics locked with the warm silver ones just inches before him. The other man simply smirked, his large, battle roughened hands reaching up to cradle his burning face between them, holding him steady as he swooped in once more.

This kiss was far different then the first, this wasn't just a brush of lips against his. No this was a full press, slanting just so that they lips could lock together perfectly, the other mans tongue gently gliding against his bottom lip, begging for entrance. Ratchet hesitantly parted his lips, not at all sure what to expect, only to latch onto the front of the other soldier's uniform as his talented tongue lay delicious siege to his mouth. A whimper slipped into the air, and Ratchet was only mildly surprised it had come from him. Great Primus above this man was making his CPU fry and his spark sputter in ways he didn't know even existed! His glossa tangled and dueled with his own, teeth nipping here and there encouraging the mech now beneath him to play as well. When he had ended up on his back on the soft cushions of the sofa, this long, lean, handsome creature nested between his legs, Ratchet gasped as the other mechs delicious weight settled over his form, from chest to knees. Heat was sparking between them as the human taught the mech, and Primus Ratchet would admit Jedidiah Hawk was a hell of a teacher.

Too suddenly that sinful mouth pulled away, the delicious weight of the other was gone and all Ratchet had the CPU space for was to look up and whimper in disappointed confusion. The man simply smiled, his lips wet with saliva as he straightened his uniform with an air of calm Ratchet wasn't feeling.

"That is why humans kiss. If you ever have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Bye Ratchet, have a good evening."

And with that the other man was gone, leaving a very rumpled and frustrated Ratchet alone in the rec room trying to recover enough to figure out what had just happened.

So? Thoughts? Comments are welcomed and encouraged! Trolls and flames will be used to make grilled troll!