For The Race–Seeker Shenanigans.

Chapter Seven.

A/N:Thanks to Lady Threarah for ideas used in this chapter.

Sam was doubly nervous about going out into the courtyard after the latest string of incidents, and had even scanned Mikaela's Vespa as a new disguise form, but as days passed and turned into a week without any sign of the Seekers, Sam began to relax. As the one week turned into two, Sam began to hope that the Seekers had finally got the message.

Figuring she was safe enough, as the three Seekers did not know her new alt and had not shown their faces, wings, or any other part of their anatomy for a good Cybertronian orn, Sam decided to risk a trip out to the Lookout with Mikaela.

"Look, the Seekers seem to have got the message, but even if they haven't, I've taken a holoform that resembles one of Mikaela's girl friends who rides an identical Vespa, so I should be okay, right?" she told Ironhide. "Look, I can't stay in the Base forever, so let me try, right?"

"Well, I guess they've not tried anything dangerous except Starscream's singing, and I guess you have a point, but if they start bothering you, you call me," Ironhide said, relenting under Sam's logic and the desperate look in her blue optics.

"Okay, Ironhide, sure thing!" Sam said, relieved that Ironhide had not put up more of a fight, for she was going stir-crazy bring confined to Base while Mikaela was able to come and go as she pleased in the hot Tranquility summer sun. She checked she had all she needed, and then she and Mikeala burned rubber out of the Base before Ironhide could think of a reason to change his mind.

The journey to the Lookout passed without incident, and the location was secluded enough that Sam could convert to robot form with little chance of being spotted by anybody except Miles or one of his fellow UFO enthusiasts, whom Sam was sure she could convince to keep quiet if they did stumble upon her up there.

The two femmes lay in the sun talking about everything and nothing and basically enjoying the view, the sun, and each other's company without any distractions. It was Mikaela's sharp eyes that spotted the motes that seemed to be darting about the sky, and pointed them out to Sam.

"Sam? Look over there. Am I getting spots before my eyes or is there something out there?"

Sam focused with her optics, being able to zoom in on the motes in a way Mikaela was unable to.

"There's definitely something there." He paused before speaking again a little more sharply. "It's those Seekers, although they're so far away that I don't think they're any threat to us."

"Well, let's not take that chance, hey? Let's pack up and leave quietly." Mikaela suggested. Sam was quite agreeable to that, but as Mikaela packed the remains of a meal she had brought into a bag, Sam continued to watch the Seekers, who appeared to be aimlessly swooping and rolling in the sky. Occasionally two would meet and go zooming off together, then separate, looping and rolling and squirting intricate vapour trails across the sky.

As she watched, one of them stopped, mid-turn, facing her, and Sam realised that if she could see them, it was highly likely that they could also see her.

"Time to go, I think," she said, turning to Mikaela. She had barely finished speaking when there was a sharp crack and a blast of air from above as a black and purple winged form appeared above them. Sam didn't even have time to dodge before the Seeker scooped her up in his two long arms, cradling her against his body as he rose into the air. As he turned to fly on his back, Sam saw that the two other motes were closer – the other two were on their way.

"Sam, Sam, at last I can hold you and touch you," Skywarp said. "What's a nice femme like you doing on a dirtball like this?"

Sam stared, that had to be one of the oldest chat-up lines in the book. She opened her mouth to give him a tart reply, but the young mech hadn't finished.

"Do you come here often? Let me take you away from all of this. The sweetest energon tastes bitter when I compare it to you. I should wear a life jacket lest I drown in your beautiful optics. One smile from you would lighten up my life. With your looks and my processors, our sparklings will be both gorgeous and gifted." The corny chat-up lines went on and on, many Sam had heard (or used) before, others that were new to her, but all equally bad.

Eventually he ran out, and by then Sam had forgotten about giving a sarcastic remark, because the other two Seekers had arrived. She struggled and said "Put me down!"

"Skywarp, you're scaring her!" Starscream reproached his younger wing brother. He reached down and plucked Sam from Skywarp's embrace, drawing her securely into his own. He flew so they were both upright, one of his arms around her shoulders and the other under her aft, the hand holding her leg.

"We saw you admiring our dancing earlier. Let us show you what it is like to be part of the dance," he told her. She caught a brief glimpse of Thundercracker and Skywarp coming together and holding each other before Starscream took off with her, corkscrewing straight up into the sky. His hold on her was secure, but as the dizzying ascent continued, Sam grabbed hold of him desperately, clinging on lest the Seeker slip and drop her.

Eventually he stopped rising and spinning, and Sam discovered another advantage of her new Cybertronian body, she wasn't dizzy as such a trip might have made her when she was human. Starscream shifted his grip on her, loosening the hold he had on her back, and Sam clung even tighter, but Starscream said "Don't worry, I won't drop you, I promise. Look at the view from up here!" He briefly shifted the position of his other arm to under her knees, so she was in a seated position, and Sam did then relax one arm, as she was now seated sideways.

The other arm stayed around Starscream's neck and tightened as Sam saw they were now so far up that the buildings of Tranquility now looked like Lego bricks and the people like ants. A quick glance towards the Lookout revealed Mikaela was still there by her Vespa. As he watched, she moved off out of sight beneath the trees.

Movement, still below but closer, drew her optics, and she watched as Thundercracker and Skywarp, locked in what appeared to be a passionate embrace, copied Starscream's corkscrew manoeuvre, except that when they reached the apex, Thundercracker took his arms from round Skywarp. He leaned back in Skywarp's arms, arching back until his head and arms were pointing towards the ground. The blue Seeker raised his legs to clutch Skywarp about the waist with them, locking them at the ankles, at which point Skywarp lifted both arms up to the sky and spread his hands.

As Thundercracker hung suspended only by the grip of his legs about his wing brother's waist, Skywarp suddenly leaned forwards and began moving, accelerating rapidly. Thundercracker's body slanted back as Skywarp began flying around Starscream and Sam, and then he abruptly stopped. At which point Thundercracker utilised the momentum of the flight to swing himself back up, Skywarp putting his arms out to catch Thundercracker's. Then Thundercracker released his legs from Skywarp's waist, released one of Skywarp's hands, and moved around to hover beside him, still holding one of the black Seeker's hands. Then the two took a mid – air bow, before, still bent over, they released their hands and tumbled down, head over pedes.

They ended their somersaults about twenty feet below and then soared back up, and Sam couldn't help it. Her Spark had been in her mouth the whole time, and she reached her free hand behind, lifting her hand from Starscream's shoulder long enough to applaud.

"That is the merest of our routines, Sam, would you like to see what I can do?" Starscream asked. Without waiting for a reply, he took her over to the other two, who quickly relieved him of Sam, each putting an arm around her back and under her thighs to put her in a surprisingly comfy and secure sitting position between them.

Starscream backed off, and then began to flip and turn in front of her, dropping down to somersault back up, then soaring overhead and performing a flip at the top of his trajectory to come down feet-first in a controlled fall behind her and then doing a repeat of the manoeuvre to rise back up in front of her, take one of her hands in his, and give it a kiss. Sam tensed, expecting a small bite, but it seems Starscream did not want to taste her energon. He backed away and suddenly shot off, almost faster than the eye could follow. Within moments he was a speck in the sky, and two sharp cracks announced why: Starscream had gone supersonic.

Within moments, however, he was back, and back doing a series of somersaults in mid-air by the time the double-boom of his return sounded. He finished somersaulting and bowed again.

"Thundercracker and Skywarp make a wonderful double act, but we all have our own individual abilities. Thundercracker is the most agile and manoeuvrable of us, whereas I am the fastest, unbeaten in a straight flight for more orns than I can recall. As for Skywarp, well, he's just Skywarp, and I'll let him demonstrate his unique area of expertise for himself."

This time, Sam was feeling more confident, even when applauding Starscream the hands of her bearers had not budged an inch, so when she was shifted so that Thundercracker alone was holding her, she was quite happy with the situation. She was loving their aerobatic display, was finding herself feeling comfortable with them, and began to wonder if Ironhide's overprotective reaction was, perhaps, a wee bit over the top. To her surprise she found herself considering them as potential mates, although she'd have to insist that the group sex and 'squadrons of sparklings' were negotiated down to something more reasonable.

Skywarp treated her to a fantastic display of his warping abilities, moving from place to place in the blink of an eye, before winking out for a bit longer, then returning with items from far-off places. Upon returning from one trip, he presented her with an exotic bloom from the Amazon Rainforest, on another a chunk of ice from a glacier in the North Pole, and then a very surprised-looking penguin from the South Pole (which Sam insisted he put back, carefully.) He came back with a shell from one of the tropical oceans, crystals from a distant cave, water from the Dead Sea and freshly-picked Brazil nuts from the rainforest in Brazil. A frond of wet seaweed followed (which was dropped soon after, none of them liking it's slimy feel) and then a fresh green coconut, still oozing sap from where Skywarp had picked it. His last item was a piece of pumice, still warm from when a volcano had ejected it.

Sam was very impressed with this show of abilities, and when Skywarp shaped himself into a sitting position, locked his joints and offered himself as a floating chair, she happily accepted. She sat in this living chair (which occasionally nuzzled her head or stroked her arm) as she watched Thundercracker do a passable eel impression, almost tying himself into knots to show her what he could do with his flexible form in the air, performing the tightest turns and twists and rolls Sam had ever seen.

As Thundercracker finished, Skywarp leaned forwards. "There is another aspect of my ability you should know about, so you may know how safe you are with us in the air or on the ground, but to demonstrate it, I must ask you to trust me."

Without waiting for Sam's response, he grabbed her by the upper arms, straightened to an upright position, and dropped her.