Author's Note: Quickslinger refuses to go to the school dance, and instead spends the night out with Smokescreen. How does she feel being alone with him for more than just a school ride? And why is Optimus suddenly questioning her family ties?

Chapter 10: Have a Good Time

"No. I'm not doing it."

"Come on, Quick! You don't have to bring anybody if you don't want to!"

"Do I need to repeat myself? I'm not going to some frickin' dance." She paused and placed her hands on her hips. "Besides, you're one to talk, Miko! You don't want to go to the dance either!"

Miko rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, Jack's making me go, but he's going to ask Sierra for a dance. I'm just there for backup."

The blonde laughed and crossed her arms as she and the Japanese girl sat on the front steps of the school. "Jack doesn't have a chance with her! I already know she's gonna dance with Vince! Still…you and Jack seem to get along pretty well." She paused and stood up to stretch out her arms. "But I don't bother with the dances; never have, never will."

Miko suddenly smirked. "Oh, I see… You're just skipping out on the dance because you want to spend the night with Smokey!"

Quickslinger blushed and her smirked melted away. "S-Shut up! I just hate dances!"

"Sure…"

"So, you hate dances huh?" Bulkhead asked, trying and failing to hide the grin on his face. "I figured you would go if Jack and Miko were going."

Quickslinger rolled her violet eyes and played with her can of Sprite. "Jack's only using Miko as backup; he's really hoping to bang Sierra tonight."

Arcee frowned. "Are you suggesting Jack wants to have sex with her?"

"You never know; a bunch of the guys in the city did it. That's why there were a bunch of pregnant sophomores when I was down there." She paused and leaned her head on the counter. "Besides…even when I was interested, no one ever wanted to go out with me…"

"Why not take Raf?" The brunette suggested.

The blonde frowned. "Raf's too young! Besides, it's high-schoolers only!"

Before anyone else could make possible suggestions, Smokescreen came downstairs, fresh out of the shower and in fresh clothes, catching Quickslinger's attention. Wait…if she asked him to go with her… No…he was an adult…others would think it was too weird. However…that didn't mean she wouldn't spend time with him. She took a sip from her soda before asking, "Hey Smokescreen…do you have any plans tonight?"

The redhead perked up at the sound of her voice and responded, "Well, no, I don't have anything in particular planned. Why?"

"…Um…you wanna go out tonight? You know…just cruise around or go out to eat?"

Ratchet put down his paper. "Are you sure that's really a good idea, Quickslinger? You need to watch what you eat and you shouldn't be doing activities late at night."

Quickslinger frowned. "Ratchet, I thought I told you that I don't want any special treatment! I'm sticking to my recommended dosage from now on; I'm going to be FINE."

It was apparent that she had been treated different lately ever since the others found out she had Crohn's Disease. Everyone kept asking her if she was okay or if her stomach was hurting, they made her stop drinking milk and eating strong foods, and they even had the gall to suggest to her to quit baseball. What were they thinking, asking her that? Even if she was puking up her internal organs, she was going to keep playing baseball. So far the only one not giving her special treatment was Smokescreen…and she liked that because he knew better. But everyone else…they were getting to be a total pain in the butt.

"Ratchet, lay off of her." Smokescreen interjected. "Quickslinger's tough; she'll be perfectly fine."

The blonde perked up as she realized what he was saying. "Wait…is that a yes?"

The redhead smiled. "Of course it's a yes! Why would I say no?" He paused and realized something. "Wait, I thought you would be going to the dance tonight. Don't have a date?"

"…I hate dances; all it's for is for the snobs to go and talk about people behind their backs or lure someone into screwing them. Not my type of deal; I just feel sorry for Jack and Miko."

It was surprisingly cold that night, colder than usual for autumn. It was a good thing that Smokescreen's car had a working heater. Quickslinger buried her chin into the hood of her jacket before the interior was warm enough for her skin. At the same time, a small smile spread across her lips at the thought of the popular girls at the dance freezing in their paper-thin and low-cut dresses.

"Looks like you had a good idea to not go to the dance." Smokescreen commented. "You'd be freezing right now in a dress; autumn's not supposed to be this cold."

"Yeah…I don't wear dresses anyway." Quickslinger quietly agreed.

"Is something the matter? You've been awful quiet."

"Oh, nothing's the matter…" The blonde lied.

Something was the matter. She was used to riding with Smokescreen alone…but that was during the daytime, when he was taking her to school. This was at night, and while the redhead thought of it as an innocent night of friends hanging out, she actually believed it to border on a date. That didn't really worry her…what did was what other people would think if they saw them together. After all…she was still a minor, and Smokescreen was almost twenty. In the city, that was normal…but the one thing she hated about small towns was that people tended to start gossip just to liven it up.

They would possibly gossip that Smokescreen was dating a child…and he could go to jail for it.

No…she wouldn't let that happen. He was too precious to her, and she wouldn't put up with pathetic small-town gossip.

"So, where are we gonna eat? Is there any place besides the KO Burger?"

To her surprise, Smokescreen laughed. "Well, they just put a coffee shop in town…so why don't we go check it out? I heard the manager actually used to work for a big coffee chain back in Las Vegas."

Quickslinger shrugged. "Okay, that sounds good."

Optimus sat down on the sofa and decided to catch up on one of his favorite books before heading to bed. As he was about to turn the page in the John Grisham novel, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. He sharply turned his head and saw Shane Jetlagg herself snuggling close to him. A smile slowly formed on his lips as the young woman brought her lips to his cheek.

"I take it Ratchet's already in bed?"

"Yes…he has to be at the clinic early tomorrow." He paused and placed a bookmark in the book before closing it. "Arcee is working overtime at the station, but everyone else is here…except Smokescreen and Quickslinger."

Shane smirked. "I heard she decided not to go to the dance. You have to admit…those two have become close."

Optimus nodded. "That they have. After what Ratchet informed me…that is very good, considering Quickslinger has had great difficulty making friends."

The young woman noticed a picture of Quickslinger with her father that was recently added to the wall in the living room. She studied it for a second before turning back to her lover and stating, "Are you sure she's Rung's kid? She looks nothing like him…"

The older man paused. Now that he thought about it…he never heard any details about Quickslinger's mother, and there was no physical resemblance to Rung in any way. Either she looked more like a distant relative, perhaps a grandparent…or…

"Here's our food! Careful, it's hot!"

Quickslinger stared for a second at the chicken Panini she ordered before picking it up and lightly blowing on it. She notices Smokescreen heavily blowing on the toasted turkey bun he ordered before taking a bite out of it. A smile appeared on her face; that was so like him. To top it all off, he bought a hot chocolate for each of them to fight the cold of the night. She finally took a bite out of her sandwich and swallowed it with help from the hot chocolate, even when it scalded her mouth a little.

"How is it?" The redhead asked with a full mouth.

The blonde smiled and nodded, her mouth full as well. "It's really good; you picked the right place!"

"Everyone at the gym was talking about it, and I figured it would be a place teenagers would want to hang out. I mean, I know you can't be at the baseball field all the time, and this place doesn't smell like day-old hamburger."

"I'm surprised the grease smell hasn't permanently been soaked into Jack's skin and clothes." Quickslinger added. "I still feel sorry for him and Miko being stuck at the stupid dance; me and Raf are lucky."

Smokescreen cocked his head to the side. "Huh? I figured you wanted to go…"

The blonde's smile suddenly disappeared. "…Tch. Dances only exist for the popular snobs to start gossip about the regular kids…and for them to take someone home to bang…that or some boys start to lure girls into their cars just to rape them. The times I wanted to go…back in grade school…boys would tell me they would take me, then when I show up, they brought someone else, and then tell me they couldn't believe I fell for it. So…no thanks…"

The redhead's smile dropped as well. "…I-I'm sorry."

"…It's not your fault. The kids I went to school with…they were nothing but jerks." A smirk suddenly appeared on her face. "In fact, most of them are now dropped out of school because they had a baby or got into drugs and alcohol. So it serves them right…"

"So I take it the dance didn't go over so well?" Arcee asked a frowning Jack.

Jack just growled and slumped further in his seat in the back of Bulkhead's truck, Miko also wearing a displeased look. "I got to dance with Sierra for a minute, but then Vince cut in and started hitting on her. I told him to stop, and he shoved me into the table…and that's when Miko kicked him in the groin. So yeah…it went horrible."

"I told you we should've stayed home like Quick…" Miko grumbled. "Say…did she happen to go out with Smokey?"

Bulkhead chuckled. "How did you know? Yeah, he took her out to eat."

The Japanese girl pumped her fist up in the air, much to the boy's chagrin. "Ha, I knew it! She likes him!"

"You know…you guys have been acting different around her lately. Is it because of that disease she has?" Jack questioned.

The woman sighed. "You could say that…although she hates it."

"Why?"

"She says she doesn't want special treatment…and that's why she's stuck closer to Smokescreen than ever. He's the only one who doesn't treat her any different. Well…'Bee's the same to an extent…"

Smokescreen found Quickslinger surprisingly quiet on the drive back home. Did he say something to upset her? He didn't remember saying anything in particular that made her seem offended; they were just having an everyday conversation. So…why was she so sullen?

"Quickslinger…are you okay? I didn't say anything to make you mad, did I?"

The blonde looked up at him for a second before shaking her head. "No…you didn't. It's just…" She breathed out a sigh before her face tensed up and she belted out, "Everyone else has been treating me differently and they're starting to become a major pain in the ass!"

"What do you mean? You mean after we found out you have Crohn's Disease?"

"Yeah, exactly after that! Ratchet's always on my case about what I eat, what I do, and when I take my medicine! I can't believe the old fart told me to quit baseball; who the hell does he think he is!? And everyone else is always asking me if I'm okay, and I mean ALWAYS! I just have a few stomach problems; I'm not majorly sick and I'm NOT dying!"

"Quickslinger…"

"Why are they giving me such bull!? No one in the city ever bothered me about it, and my dad wasn't on my case about it! So…why…"

The redhead decided he would answer that. "…It's because we care about you."

Quickslinger's eyes widened and she stared at Smokescreen. "…They do? I thought some of them, mostly Ratchet and Arcee, hated me…"

"What would give you that idea? We don't hate you at all… You just…" He paused and breathed out a sigh as well. "You really gave us a scare…because we thought you would be in the hospital for a long time… But…the others don't understand how tough you are like I do…so just give them another chance, okay?"

The blonde pouted for a good few minutes before she solemnly nodded and answered, "…Okay." She turned her head towards him again. "Hey…thanks for taking me out tonight."

"Hey…what are friends for?"