AN: Sorry about the delay in updating, ya'll. I've been on vacation, so I've been doing things with the family. Had to work writing around that, sadly.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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Sideswipe did his level best to sit as nonchalantly as possible. He was alone in the room save for one silent security mech. He'd been waiting for nearly a joor now. It was a tactic he was familiar with. The longer he was left alone, the more nervous he was supposed to get. Especially since he knew he was being watched. Not just by the security mech, but also by the cameras scattered about. If your intakes so much as hitched the wrong way, Swindle and his cohorts would know about it. Sleight of hand was impossible in this set up.

It's also one reason why Sideswipe always demanded to meet Swindle on neutral turf. Meeting on Swindle's territory gave him a sort of advantage; the comfort to demand things he otherwise wouldn't have. Swindle needed what Sideswipe could get him, so he always agreed. After their last meeting, however, Swindle wasn't taking any chances. It was going to be on his terms or nothing.

Finally Swindle came in the room. The security mech stepped to the side to let him in. He smiled amiably at Sideswipe, trying to set him at ease and off guard. "It's been awhile, Sideswipe," he said.

"I finally got enough trinkets for you," Sideswipe answered. He started pulling parts out of his subspace.

Swindle picked up each part and looked them over. "Triple changer transformation cogs? They're in good condition too…What do you want for them?"

"I need a full set of papers and registration number for that sparkling with this information." Sideswipe set down a piece of scrap with his writing on it in front of Swindle. It held all the information Swindle would need to register Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as Red's creators.

Swindle gave it a cursory glance. His circuits still burned over that altercation. Sideswipe had cost him a lot by stealing that sparkling. But with five sets of triple changer transformation cogs…"What else?"

Sideswipe scoffed. "Five sets is more than enough, plus the other pieces. All I need is credible papers."

"Credibility is hard to get, Sideswipe. Especially to date these papers the way they need to be…" Swindle leaned back in his chair, an easy smile crossing his face.

This is why Sideswipe hated playing on his turf. "I can do it myself, Swindle, but you can do it faster. That's the only reason I'm coming to you with it. I can sell those sets myself, too. So take what I'm offering, or I'll walk."

Swindle tapped his fingers on the table, considering. He hated giving in, but Sideswipe didn't lie about what he could do. These cog sets would really come in handy in Kaon. "All right, I'll do it. But I expect a little extra next time you stop in. And there will be a next time, I'm sure."

"I wouldn't dream of staying away."

"I'll be back in a few breems." Sideswipe watched as Swindle picked up the scrap and walked out. He didn't allow himself to relax. That wouldn't happen until he was back at home with Sunstreaker and Red.

Red hadn't picked a permanent name yet, but now that they had actual papers for him, he could at any time. They could also get him a terminal code of his own and get him access to files on security systems like he kept asking.

A few breems later, Swindle came back as promised. He handed the scrap and a disk containing Red's papers to Sideswipe. "Got it all together."

"A pleasure doing business with you, Swindle."

--

Red let himself into Wheeljack's terminal using his new code. He brought up the files he'd been looking over earlier.

"Don't you ever get tired of looking at the same stuff?" Perceptor asked. The fledging scientist was putting together a magnifier, taking notes on his process all the while. Wheeljack was leaving the two of them to their own devices more and more often lately, allowing them room to breathe and work on their own and to catch up on his own work.

"Not really," Red answered. "I like learning about these things." He turned from the terminal and looked at Perceptor. "Don't you ever get tired of building things like that?"

"Small things are fascinating, Red!" And just like that Perceptor was off, explaining in detail about his obsession with smaller objects. Red smiled and turned back to his terminal. It was nice having Perceptor to talk to, especially since he did most of the talking.

"Perceptor," Red broke into his monologue. Perceptor abruptly stopped and turned his attention to Red. "Would it be possible to link a security feed directly to a mech?"

"I think so. It'd be a lot to handle, though, depending on the size of the system."

"I wasn't thinking anything big. Just something about the size of Sideswipe's warehouse. Do they have anything like that at the Academy?"

"Not that I know of. Ironhide doesn't talk about the security much beyond the physical measures. I have met the mech in charge of the system a time or two, but it was outside the security room. He wasn't exactly forthcoming with his methods, not that I asked. Now that you have a code you could apply for the Academy yourself. Then you can study security systems with mechs that program them, you know."

"The Academy makes me…antsy."

"I don't understand why. The Academy is the best school in any of the cities. Wheeljack and Ratchet will give you recommendations. I could convince my creators to as well."

"It isn't the getting in that I'm worried about. It's the school itself. Besides, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker never went to the Academy and they're doing fine for themselves."

Perceptor nodded in concession. "I'll ask Ironhide and Chromia about linking to security feeds at home tonight. If they have any insight to it, I'll have them give me files to look at."

"Thank you."

--

Sideswipe onlined in the middle of the night. He quietly rolled off his berth. He didn't want to wake Sunstreaker. It had become an unfortunate part of his routine to wake up like this. The mech he'd seen a few orns ago snooping around the warehouse district had finally made a break in a few warehouses away from Sideswipe's. Sideswipe woke up to check the feeds so if he did break in, he could hopefully catch it early enough to make a difference. The security mechs had turned up nothing when the searched the warehouse that had been broken into. The mech was smart enough to cover his tracks.

Red was already awake and tapping his codes into the terminal. He'd noticed Sideswipe getting up. There wasn't a thing that went on in this apartment that Red didn't at least try to know about.

"Here," Sideswipe said, reaching around him to type in the pass codes to the feeds. "You didn't have to get up."

"I know." They both watched the feeds for a few breems. "Isn't there a better way of keeping an eye on these? It seems so hit or miss to do it this way."

"Well, if I had the credits, I could hire somebody to do routine patrols and watch the feeds at night, but I don't. Short of staying up all the time myself, this is the only way."

"What about having Sunny or I watch the feeds?"

"You know what Sunny is like without enough recharge. He'd be impossible. Plus, if his art suffers like he always says it will, we'll be out credits anyway."

"That still leaves me."

"It's not good for you to go without recharge either."

"It's just so inefficient."

"I know, but that's for me to worry about." Sideswipe closed the feeds and put a hand on Red's shoulder.

Red looked up at him. "I've been reading up on security feeds a lot. I'm trying to learn as much about them as possible. I might be able to improve the system for the warehouse."

"If Wheeljack thinks you can handle it, you can play around with the internal system. In the meantime, you want me to see if I can get my hands on a small system that you can experiment with on your own?"

Red nodded. "I've got some ideas I want to try. And Perceptor has opinions on everything."

Sideswipe laughed. "So I've noticed. I'll get something for you as soon as I can. Grapple is coming by the warehouse in a couple of days to pick up his order and I have some extra things he might like."

"Does he deal just in buildings?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just curious. Perceptor has been building some things and he wants some opinions outside of Wheeljack. 'Different opinions yield better results', he says."

"Is Perceptor going to the Academy?"

Red looked back at the terminal. "He's already applied. With Ironhide as his creator, he's sure to get in."

"Why don't you try for the Academy?" Sideswipe knew he must have touched a sore spot when Red abruptly got to his feet and walked a few paces back towards his room.

"I don't want to go to the Academy," he spat.

"Why not? You can."

"I know I can, I just don't want to!" With that Red walked fully into his room and slid the door quietly shut behind him. Sideswipe strained his audios to listen to Red settle down onto his berth. He was more than a little surprised by Red's outburst. As interested as he was in security systems, Sideswipe thought he would jump at the chance to study under mechs who knew systems inside and out.

His chronometer reminded him it was well past time to be back in recharge. It was a problem that would have to be addressed, but Red obviously wasn't going to talk about it tonight. Time for recharge.