Smokescreen walked in a cheery manner, taking his time as he headed towards the exit of the Ark. He had some time to spare before meeting with Bluestreak, his partner for the day, after all. More importantly, it was a good opportunity to record the psychological profile of the Autobots from the moment that Bluestreak became a femme up to now. He had gathered a lot of data in these past couple of weeks or so, and the former gambler highly doubted that he would have that kind of chance again. Perceptor and Jazz had contacted Prime that they were returning to Earth, and they figured they would be back in ten days' time at the latest. When that happened, Bluestreak would finally get his old face back.

That was why Smokescreen himself had asked Prowl to place him with the gunner today. He wanted to have a word with her and so get a glimpse on how much her appearance influenced her personality. For Smokescreen had noticed that Bluestreak had become more wary of certain mechs (she never took her eyes off Cliffjumper, for example), and far more affectionate with others (Prowl first came to mind). She had even managed to form a bond of understanding with Carly, something that the human girl welcomed quite happily. The rest of the Autobots could see them together almost every day, talking and sometimes even gigglinguncontrollably - especially whenever there was a third party in the same room with them. Bluestreak used to do that with the Twins, but not anymore. Her relationship with them had become strained as of late, and Smokescreen suspected why. It went with being the appointed consultant within the Ark.

The bright sunlight hit his optics, cutting Smokescreen off his musings as he stepped out of the Ark. Bluestreak was already outside, sitting on a rock nearby and waiting for the blue Datsun to show up. To his surprise, though, Smokescreen noticed that the gunner was quite tense. She kept checking her surroundings, her doors held up quite nervously.

"Is something wrong, Bluestreak?" Smokescreen asked.

Bluestreak snapped her head around, startled, only to relax when she realised who it was. "Primus, you scared me, Smokescreen!"

"The way you are now, you would have jumped at the drop of a pin," Smokescreen pointed out in a brief tease, only to sober again. "What's troubling you?"

Bluestreak pursed her lips momentarily. "I'm… I'm not sure. It's probably nothing, really. Just me getting restless, I guess. You know how antsy I get at times. Don't worry about it."

You are such a bad liar, kiddo, Smokescreen thought with a mental shake of his head. "As an officer, I'd rather be the judge of that myself. Now tell me."

Bluestreak must have realised that her best option was to confide in Smokescreen, for she let out a sigh of resignation.

"Okay, fine. I feel like I'm being watched," she said, wringing her hands.

Smokescreen tilted his head. "Watched?" he echoed, trying not to sound too sceptical about it.

"I know, that's Red's usual line," she said. "But it's strange. I keep getting this creepy sensation that someone keeps following me around."

"Since when did you have that feeling?" Smokescreen asked curiously.

"Just this past week," Bluestreak answered, "I thought it was Mirage at first, trying to mess with my head but… it's not like him to do that."

"True," Smokescreen admitted and rubbed his chin in thought. He wasn't sure why Bluestreak was so tense, but he knew that he had to get her mind off those troubling thoughts. "Well, we'll be together on patrol today. If someone is messing with you, we'll probably find out together. Okay?"

"Okay," Bluestreak said. "But I really don't want to be any trouble."

"No trouble at all," Smokescreen replied in a reassuring tone, and he transformed to his car mode. "So… ready to go?"

Bluestreak nodded and transformed as well, following the blue Datsun obediently. But neither of them noticed the small mech who was watching them from a safe distance, a gleeful expression in his features.


"Finally!" Rumble exclaimed. He instantly activated his radio-transmitter and opened his communication frequencies. "Rumble to Skywarp! Rumble to Skywarp! Do you read?"

Skywarp cleared his vocaliser in obvious disapproval. Sighing, Rumble tried again.

"Little Big Man to Top Gun. Do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Little Big Man," Skywarp answered happily. "Report."

"She's heading your way. ETA 30 Earth minutes."

"Great!" Skywarp said. "Get over here. As soon as she appears, we can begin with Phase Two. Top Gun out."

"Gotcha! Little Big Man out," Rumble said, ending the transmission, and then he took off before any of the security cameras of the Ark spotted him.


"Well? Do you feel you're being watched now?" Smokescreen asked, still at the silver Datsun's side. They had been driving for quite some time now and the former gambler noticed that Bluestreak was more relaxed.

If Bluestreak were able to in her current mode, she would have shaken her head. "No," she replied, audibly relieved. "I guess I just needed to get out of the Ark for a while."

"Perhaps," Smokescreen said. "Primus knows things can be frustrating there on occasion."

"Yeah, more so for some than others," she muttered under her breath.

Though Smokescreen overheard her, he didn't hold the words against her. "I suppose it isn't easy being the only femme in an all-mech base. But I'm sure everyone tries to make you feel comfortable."

"Most of them."

Smokescreen acted surprised. "Not all of them?"

Bluestreak said nothing, so Smokescreen decided to give the gunner another subtle nudge.

"You're talking about Cliffjumper, aren't you?" he said. "His jokes can be crude, but his spark is in the right place."

"I know," Bluestreak said. "I don't have a problem with him."

"I see."

There was silence for some moments, but Smokescreen wasn't troubled. He knew that his patience would be rewarded sooner or later. Sure enough, Bluestreak drove closer to Smokescreen as if to talk to him in a confidential manner.

"Hey, uh… Smokescreen?"

Smokescreen couldn't help but smile inwardly. "Yes?"

"You… You talk to Sunstreaker, don't you?"

Here we go, Smokescreen thought. "On occasion."

"So what kind of stuff do you talk about?"

"Other than his latest wax job? Not much else," Smokescreen answered with a soft chuckle. There was more, of course, but he had never betrayed anyone's trust so far; he wasn't about to start now.

"Oh."

Smokescreen directed his sensors to Bluestreak. "Sorry to disappoint. What did you want to know?"

"Well…" Bluestreak hesitated for a moment. "We had this big fight and we haven't talked since then. I just… wondered."

She didn't have to say anything else; Smokescreen understood perfectly. "If you're wondering, there's a way to find out what you want."

"Really? What's that?" Bluestreak asked.

"Talk to him yourself."

She groaned. "That's not the kind of advice I was hoping for."

"It's still the best one," Smokescreen said.

"But I've already tried it and it didn't work!" Bluestreak said glumly.

"I never said it would be easy. Unlike in your case, words aren't exactly Sunstreaker's strongest point," the former gambler said, and he would have winked if he could.

"Yeah," Bluestreak admitted. "It makes you wonder how he managed to date all those femmes he constantly talks about, come to think of it."

"Oh, let's just say that his actions speak louder than his words," Smokescreen said. "Especially some certain actions of his," he added meaningfully.

Bluestreak's engine made a sputtering sound. "I did not need to know that!" she exclaimed in sheer mortification.

"Sorry," Smokescreen said, although his tone was enough as indication that he wasn't sorry in the least.

His mirth quickly vanished into thin air, though; for his sensors picked up some energy readings he didn't like at all. Enemy energy readings.

"Bluestreak…"

"I sensed them too," he said. Indeed, she had already put on the breaks, and her engine revved as tension coursed through her. "Where do you think they are?"

"Judging by the speed they're approaching us, they're probably up in the air," Smokescreen said. "Transform and get ready. We might have to fight."

"Okay!" Bluestreak said, complying at once. In a matter of seconds, she was back to her robot mode, a gun in her hands. Smokescreen transformed as well and beckoned her to follow him to a rock formation nearby. If the Decepticons attacked, it would be best if the two of them had some kind of defence.

"Stay low," Smokescreen instructed. "We don't need to draw their attention."

"Too late for that, Autobuffoon!" Skywarp said, materialising behind them.

Cursing, Smokescreen snapped around in the hopes of hitting Skywarp, but the purple Seeker was too quick; he fired the blue Datsun on the chest.

"Smokescreen!"

Smokescreen tried to answer, but his systems failed one after another. His legs buckled underneath him and he felt himself falling, aware that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he felt Bluestreak's arms wrapping around him to stop his fall. He opened his mouth, wanting to tell her to forget about him, to run away as fast as possible… but then the world swirled into the blackness of unconsciousness and he knew nothing more.


Bluestreak stopped Smokescreen's fall, but she didn't have the luxury to check the blue Datsun's damages; she had to deal with Skywarp first. She fired at him, but the purple Seeker simply teleported again and materialised at her side, grabbing her by the wrist.

"You really don't need that, doll," he declared, twisting her hand to force her to drop the gun.

"Let go of me!" Bluestreak cried. She tried to pull herself free from Skywarp's grasp; but, when that didn't work, she just kicked the Seeker on the shin and then hurried at Smokescreen's side. Holding the unconscious form close, she activated the rocket launchers on her shoulders.

"You want a piece of this? If not, back off!" she said, glaring at her adversary.
Skywarp raised an optic ridge and held his palms upwards in a gesture of peace. "Hey, come now, doll. Let's not be hasty here."

"You're right, let's not," she growled. "Step away and no one else has to get hurt."

"You don't get it, doll," Skywarp said. "I'd rather you stayed in one piece."

The tremors on the ground were Bluestreak's only warning. Before she could react, the ground beneath Bluestreak's feet tore in two, and she found herself falling into the chasm along with Smokescreen. A purple hand caught her, but she couldn't hold onto Smokescreen; he slipped from her grasp.

"SMOKESCREEN!" Bluestreak screamed, her optics widened in horror as she watched Smokescreen vanishing into the dark depths of the chasm.

"I suggest you forget about him, doll," Skywarp said, lifting her to safety. "Now… do I get a kiss for saving you?"

She rewarded him with a well-weighed punch on his face instead. Skywarp cried out in pain and held his jaw protectively, and Bluestreak found her chance. She sped off in her alternate mode on top speed.

"Bluestreak to the Ark! Come in, Ark! We're in trouble, please send help!"

Her distress signal was cut short, however. Ramjet landed in front of her and grabbed her as if she were a mere toy. Dismayed, Bluestreak transformed and started struggling against him, ready to activate her rocket launchers, but she never got the chance. A sharp blow landed on her head, knocking her out cold.


"Blast it," Ramjet muttered, holding the unconscious Bluestreak in his arms. "I thought you said it was going to be easy!" he said, glaring at Skywarp.

"Fine, so she fought back! I didn't expected it, you know" Skywarp said defensively. "They usually stand there and scream till somebody comes to save them!"

"Sure they do," Ramjet replied with a huff. "They also probably weigh a lot less than her. Help me out here, will you?"

Skywarp groaned, nevertheless he grabbed Bluestreak's legs to share the load.

"All right, we've done it!" Rumble said, approaching the Seekers with a big grin on his face. "So what do we do with that one?"

Ramjet and Skywarp looked in the direction the cassetticon pointed – the chasm where Smokescreen was.

"Leave him there; the other Autobots could be here at any moment," Skywarp said. "Now come on, let's take off!"

"Uh… Skywarp?" Ramjet said.

"What?"

"How are we going to do that?"

Skywarp blinked, realisation catching up with him. Neither he nor Ramjet could transform and fly away, because they needed their hands to carry Bluestreak. Even if they stayed in robot mode, carrying an unconscious Autobot while flying wasn't the easiest thing in the world. It would still take both jets to do that and coordination wasn't exactly their forte. They did want her to stay in one piece…

"Don't tell me you didn't think of an escape plan!" Rumble said incredulously.

The purple Seeker said nothing. He just smiled embarrassedly, a sheepish expression on his features.

Ramjet and Rumble let out a simultaneous noise of exasperation.

"Pipe down, both of you! I've already thought of a solution!" Skywarp said indignantly.

"And that is?" Ramjet asked with a sceptical look in his optics.

Skywarp straightened the wings behind his back. "Well… We run."

Ramjet and Rumble had to agree that that was the silliest solution ever – and also the only one that could work. So, a few seconds later, all three Decepticons carried Bluestreak away like some sort of trophy, running as fast as their legs could carry them.

TBC…