So, I started classes back up today and even though I've only had two classes so far, my schedule might actually be relaxed enough that I can update rather frequently. But don't take my word for that. I have three classes tomorrow that I still have to get through. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

10.

Like Sparks Flying

Rae felt like dancing as she entered the Autobot base.

Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest. She wasn't sure where it had soared to, but it didn't matter, the night had been great. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy. In her mind, she thanked the stranger over and over again for allowing her to escape not just from the nightclub, but from reality as well. Rae wasn't sure if she'd ever see him again, but she would enjoy the feeling of his lips pressed against hers while she could.

"Jetfire?" she called as she walked into the base, "Caliburst?"

No one replied, however, that didn't surprise Rae. It was after midnight and she hadn't expected anyone to wait up for her. She had to tell herself to calm down as she tried to figure out what to do, her heart seemed like it was fluttering violently inside of her chest. She took a deep, slow breath. "Get a grip," she told herself, "It was just a kiss." She glanced around. There was a note on the opposite wall. Curious, Rae went over and took it down.

Hey Ra-Ra,
I don't know if you'll make it here tonight, but if you do, I really want to see you. Come to my quarters, I left the door ajar so you can come in. I don't have to be awake early tomorrow, so wake me up if I'm recharging. We've got a lot of catching up to do.
Your favorite Autobot,
Jetfire

Rae smiled as she shook her head. At least she knew where she was going now.

Jetfire couldn't sleep and he wasn't sure why he was even trying.

He rolled over for what was probably the millionth time since he laid down on his berth. He wasn't one to toss and turn, but he felt haunted. He could still feel Rae's touch ghosting over him, her taste still sweet on his glossa, her scent still teasing his olfactory sensors. He simply could not forget her, the very image of her beautiful face seared into his processor.

Jetfire tried to imagine the worst possible punishment that Optimus could inflict upon him. He imagined himself dying by the Prime's hand, he imagined himself restarting his life as if he had been stripped of title and rank. There was no way that his commander could find out what he had done. If he did find out, he knew it would be the end of him, the very end.

"Damn it to the Pit, Jetfire, what have you gotten yourself into?"

He tried to reason with himself. Rae was his charge. Rae was much more mature than the other kids. She was a woman, though not fully grown up, but she was well on her way. He knew her much better than some of the Autobots. Was it that taboo if he did in fact like her? There were no femmes, they both possessed the ability to think and reason and love. She was just human and he a giant robot. But, under all his armor, deep down inside, wasn't he just as soft?

Jetfire vented a sigh, "Okay, so maybe I like her. But I need to stop liking her so much."

The deputy commander knew that he had to tell Rae the truth. It still wasn't too late. Yes, he had kissed her and flirted with her to the point of no return, but if he told Rae the truth now, they could move on. But how would he explain himself? Jetfire could see it now.

"Hey Rae, so let's talk about earlier. You know that cute red head you made out with about half an hour ago? Yeah, big surprise, that was me! I didn't mean to mess with your feelings; I just got caught up in the moment. Can't really explain myself, I'm not sure what came over me. You're a really great kisser, though, but it can't ever happen again or it's my head. Hope you're not too mad!"

Jetfire groaned. He knew he had the option of pretending it never happened. He never had to seek Rae out again in his human form. If he never saw her again in that form, she would eventually come to the conclusion that Jeffrey had abandoned her. She would never know. Optimus would never know. The truth would be safe. He would never have to explain just what compelled him to kiss her.

There were all kinds of legends on Cybertron that tried to explain foolish romance, but none of them appealed to the second in command at the moment. There was, however, a known truth about romance. When one found their spark-mate, they would know it. They would know it in their sparks and minds, though, no one was sure how they knew. Jetfire had asked Optimus about it when he figured out Elita was his spark-mate, but even the great Autobot leader had difficulty explaining the connection.

"You don't know right away," he recalled Optimus saying, "But, after a while, there's a trigger between the two of you, like sparks flying, and it just hits you. You'll know it when you feel it, Jetfire."

For a fleeting moment, Jetfire considered the possibility that Rae was his spark-mate. He knew he would've never engaged a human as he had otherwise, let alone disobey Optimus' direct orders not to romantically pursue one. He shook his head. The attraction was probably nothing more than physical and he didn't need to try and figure it out right now. He willed himself to stop thinking.

"Are you awake, Jetfire?"

The Autobot immediately sat up at the sound of Rae's voice. "Rae," he exclaimed as he noticed her standing near the door, "You're here."

"I told you I'd try to sneak away," she remarked with a confident grin, "I had a rather nice ride here, if I don't say so myself."

Jetfire felt guilty letting his optics roam her form. In his defense, he didn't think it was fair that she was wearing a low cut, pink blouse with a black miniskirt. He tried to avert his gaze as he got up from the berth and went over to her before kneeling down in front of her. "So you managed to ditch Micah?" he asked, trying to hide his excitement over the fact she was here.

"Yes, but he isn't happy. I had to turn my phone off because he's been texting and calling. He wants to know where I am."

"Tell him you're hanging out with a giant alien robot."

Rae laughed, "He wouldn't believe me."

"At least you wouldn't be lying," he stated as he knelt down and extended his hand towards her, "Are you tired?"

"Not really," she replied as she climbed onto his hand, "I'm trying to come down from a euphoric high."

"Something happen that I should know about?" he asked as he picked her up and headed back over to his berth where he sat down.

She settled herself in his hand before asking, "It's right for me to assume that transformers date and are sexual creatures since you feel emotions, am I correct?"

"Well, we may not have a biological instinct to reproduce in order to repopulate our species," Jetfire clarified, "But yes, we have emotional, physical, and sexual relationships."

"So, have you ever met someone and just have it go really well? Like, you can't stop thinking about them, or forget their touch? And no matter how risky it is or how much trouble you may get into, you want to see that person again?"

"Yes," Jetfire replied, "I know exactly what you're talking about."

"Okay, because that happened to me tonight."

"You met someone?"

"Yes, he helped me get away from Micah and the nightclub," Rae confessed, "He was very sweet and kind and he had a good sense of humor. He was extremely good looking and he had this scar..."

Jetfire was glad he had his facemask to hide his smile, "Do you think you'll see him again?"

"I want to, but I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't, I mean, before I met Micah I seemed to be very good at repulsing men rather than attracting them."

"I don't think you repulsed them," Jetfire stated as he lay back, setting Rae upon his chest, "How are things going with Micah?"

Rae refrained from frowning at the way he seemed to spit his name out. "I'm still alive," she retorted as she crossed her arms.

"Rae, is he hurting you?"

"No," she quickly lied.

"Okay," Jetfire said, "Then explain why you didn't want to talk on the phone while Micah was there. You had to sneak away in order to come here."

"Micah doesn't trust me," Rae clarified, "He's afraid I'm going to walk out on him again."

"Let me guess, he won't let you go anywhere or do anything without him?"

"He's…he's a bit controlling," she admitted slowly, "Look, I am trying to get away from him, but I can't just walk away. I have no place to go—

"Rae," Jetfire said sternly, "You are welcome here."

"I know…it's just I don't know if I belong here."

Jetfire vented a sigh as a heavy pause filled the room. Rae looked up at the Autobot, letting her gaze get lost in the golden orbs that made up his optics. It was times like these that she had missed the most. If Jetfire were human…Rae had to suppress a shudder.

"I've missed you, Rae," Jetfire breathed as he tried not to think about shrinking down and kissing her.

Rae smiled even though she didn't want to. "I've missed you, too, Jetfire," she replied, "Think I could stay the night here? I'd rather not deal with Micah tonight."

"Sure, I'll take you to your—

"I said here."

"You mean…with me?"

"Yes, with you."

"I don't know where you'd sleep," he said, "I don't want to roll over and accidentally crush you."

"I'm not worried," Rae replied as she eased her blouse over her head, revealing a white camisole that she was wearing underneath.

"Rae, what are you doing?"

"I'm just making myself a little more comfortable," she replied, "Don't worry. I don't know you well enough to let you see me naked."

"Oh Primus," Jetfire thought. He tried to will his optics offline, but instead they remained glued on Rae as she slipped her skirt off and tossed it aside where her blouse was. He stared at her, she wore nothing but a white camisole and white panties. Had her legs always been that long? He was contemplating how soft her legs were when he realized he was staring. He glanced up only to meet Rae's gaze. He was glad his facemask hid his blush as he saw she was wearing a curious and suspicious expression on her face, obviously she had been watching him study her.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked.

Jetfire tried to play it cool as he shrugged and said, "I wasn't expecting a striptease."

"Well, unfortunately for you, this is as naked as I'm getting," she replied as she sat down on his chest.

He eased his hand over her as she lay down, stroking his fingers over her back. He had to fight every urge in his being to keep from shrinking down to her size and enveloping her in his arms. "This has to stop," he told himself, "She likes Jeffrey, not Jetfire."

"Good night," she said.

"Sweet dreams," he replied as he let his optics go offline and he felt Rae settle on his chest.

"Hey, Jetfire?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to weird you out or anything, but that guy I met, he reminds me of you, if you were human. I think that's why I liked him so much."

Jetfire smiled behind his facemask. He wouldn't say anything to risk ruining the moment. Instead, he reveled in the possibility that Rae liked him as he drifted into recharge.

Rae was surprised when she woke up the next morning to giant fingers gently stroking her back. It was comforting in an odd sense as she lay awake, the memories from the previous night playing through her mind. She couldn't remember a time where she woke up feeling so secure, so protected, so warm. It was nice to wake up without being smothered by venomous kisses, sex, and the scents of sweat, alcohol, and cigarettes.

Rae watched as her breath created little clouds on Jetfire's sleek armor. She drew a smiley face in the condensation. She wrote her name. She wrote Jetfire's. She drew a heart. She smiled.

Rae wondered if transformers could feel attracted to humans. They were so alike, but so different. Rae knew without a doubt that she was attracted to Jetfire more than what she should've been. For a brief moment, she wondered how transformer sexuality worked. Did they have genders? Were there female transformers? Jetfire said they had sexual relationships. How did that work?

Blushing at the thought, Rae rolled over onto her back, Jetfire's hand still covering her. She sighed, wishing that Jetfire could be human. She wished that Jeffrey was Jetfire. If she couldn't have those, she'd even take Jetfire being smaller.

"Get a grip, Rae. He's not human. He's just a really sweet guy that's saved your life a couple times. Imagine what people would think if they knew you secretly wanted to date a giant alien robot. They'd say you have robosexuality or mechanophilia. It simply wouldn't work and Jetfire would probably get in trouble. There's no way it can be right for a transformer to date a human."

But deep down inside, Rae knew that nobody had to know. And she was suspiciously certain that Jetfire liked her as much as she liked him.

"Morning, Rae," the Autobot said.

"Morning," she replied as she sat up, ruffling her hair.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Yes. I probably look pretty awful at the moment, so ignore me."

He smiled, "Your hair's a little crazy, but its fine if you're not planning on going anywhere."

"I should get home," she admitted.

"What for? You just woke up."

"Micah's going to be mad."

Jetfire vented a sigh as he helped Rae off his chest so she could put her clothes back on. "He's going to be mad regardless of when you go home. You should stay here, there's something I want to show you."

"Show me?" she asked, looking to him quizzically.

"You bet," he replied with a wink.

"Well, I'm willing to compromise if you take me to my room so I can shower."

"You got it," Jetfire stated as he scooped her up in his hand and headed for the door. He carried her down to her room before setting her on the floor. "When you get done," he said, "Come to the command center. I'll be there."

"Alright," Rae said, "See you in a bit."

"See you soon," he stated before walking away.

Rae watched him before she disappeared inside her room. She proceeded to use the bathroom and shower before redressing and drying her hair. When she finished, she left her room to find Jetfire. However, as she walked into the command center, she nearly collided with a red and white foot. She apologized quickly before looking up only to freeze in terror. "Starscream!" she shouted in disbelief, moving a few steps back away from him, "Do 'Cons just have free roam of this place now?"

Jetfire chuckled as he turned to her. "That sure would be interesting, wouldn't it?" he remarked, "But no worries, Starscream's one of us now."

She looked to the former Decepticon, "You mean, you joined these guys?"

"Way to make that sound like a bad thing," Hotshot exclaimed.

"I did it so I could bring down Megatron," Starscream replied as he looked the human over, "You must be the one called Rae."

"Who told you?"

"I've heard your name mentioned around the base. Plus, Wheeljack has said some things."

"Tell him he still owes me a car," Rae said as she crossed her arms.

"I'll think about it."

"So, how'd you end up here?"

"Megatron tried to kill me, I don't wish to discuss it," Starscream stated as he turned away. He paused for a moment before looking back to Rae, a stern look on his face, "Though I harbor no sentiments towards you, as an Autobot, I will warn you that Megatron is interested in you."

"What do you mean by interested?" Jetfire intervened, sounding angry.

Starscream shrugged, "I wasn't in the Decepticon base long enough to find out. I overheard Demolishor whining about how ridiculous it was that Megatron was wasting valuable resources on a human named Rae."

Jetfire looked down at her, optics narrowed. Rae, however, didn't notice, her own eyes suddenly clouded by sadness and regret. "It's probably because I took his side when he was trying to get the Requiem Blaster Minicons from Smokescreen."

"You mean to tell me you're still beating yourself up over that?"

Rae whirled around, surprised. Her eyes landed on a 'Bot she had never seen before, but his voice was as clear as day. "Smoke—Smokescreen?" she stammered, "Is that you?"

"You bet it is," he replied with a chuckle, "But I go by Hoist now."

"You…survived?" Rae asked, clearly stunned.

"Red Alert is an excellent medic," he said.

"Hoist…I'm so sorry about everything that—

"Hey now," Hoist remarked as he knelt down in front of Rae, "You don't need to be sorry for anything. You weren't the one that pulled the trigger."

"But the things I said—

"They were just words, Rae. I know you didn't mean them. I'm not mad at you for being scared."

She looked down for a moment before looking back up at him, "Thanks, Hoist."

"No problem, kiddo," he remarked as he stood back up, a smile on his face.

Rae looked to Jetfire, who was looking back down at her. However, both turned their gaze to Optimus as he said, "Jetfire, Rae, I wish to speak with you two alone."

"Uh, yes sir," Jetfire stated as he scooped Rae up and followed the Autobot leader out of the command center. They went down a series of hallways until they were out of hearing range.

Optimus stopped and turned to Jetfire, Rae was perched on his shoulder. "Rae," the Autobot leader said, "Do you plan on returning home or staying here?"

"Going home," she replied, "I have to."

"I don't think that is wise," Optimus said, "Until we can determine that Megatron is no longer a threat to you, it would be best if you stayed here."

"Megatron already thinks I'm staying here," Rae said, "He did pluck me out of my room before."

"He can't get you here," Jetfire remarked, "Who knows if he's spying on you. He definitely has the means of doing so."

"I doubt he's that interested."

"You never know with Megatron. Once he sets his sights on something, he gets it. You're safer here where I can protect you."

"Jetfire, you know I can't. I don't know what Micah would do."

Jetfire scowled, "Why does that matter?"

"Jetfire," Optimus spoke sternly, "We cannot make Rae stay here if she doesn't wish to."

Jetfire simply looked away, grumbling. Rae looked from him to Optimus as the Autobot leader said, "Rae, if anything should happen, contact us immediately. Jetfire can sync your phone with his—

"He already has," Rae said, "I promise, I'll call."

Optimus nodded before walking away. When he was gone, Jetfire looked back to Rae before asking, "Do you like putting yourself in danger?"

"Maybe I like it when you rescue me," she said with a wink.

Jetfire felt defeated. He couldn't stay angry with her after she said that. "Yeah, go ahead and try to flirt your way out of this," he said as he started walking.

"Who said I was flirting?"

"Please, I've been with enough femmes in my lifetime to know what counts as flirting and what doesn't."

"Femme?"

"A female transformer."

"So you do have genders?"

"Yes, we are programmed to have genders after we are conceived. Creators—parents in your terms—have no control over gender. It happens on its own."

"So what's the technical term for a male transformer?"

"A mech."

"Well, I won't ask you how transformers reproduce. I may not be a virgin, but there are some things I don't care to know at this point in time. We'll save that for another day."

Jetfire laughed, "Alright, but that means you'll have to come back here."

"I'll find a way."

"I'll hold you to that, Rae. Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Be careful when you go home. I know I give you a hard time about Micah, but I worry myself sick about you when you're not here. And now that I know Megatron is interested in you, that certainly doesn't make me feel better. If anything happens, and I mean anything, let me know alright? I won't yell or say 'I told you so' or anything like that—

"Jetfire…"

"Rae, I care about you. I meant what I said when I told you I'll risk exposing my existence to all of mankind if it means keeping you safe."

She wanted to hug him. She wanted to press herself against him. She wanted to melt inside of him. She wanted to find the human beneath his armor. She wanted to tell him that being friends wasn't good enough. She wanted to tell him she loved him for everything he was and everything he was doing. She wanted to stay. She wanted to belong with him.

"Jetfire," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "You mean everything to me."

"Rae…"

He laughed to himself as Rae stepped out of the yellow sports car. She thanked the car before closing the door and heading towards the apartment complex. He watched as the car pulled away, obviously headed back to the Autobot base. With a sneer, he said, "Poor Hotshot, reduced to being a chauffeur."

He turned his attention back to Rae as a male came storming out of the apartment. His eyes screamed with fury. He watched as Rae cowered as the man seized her by the wrist. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"I'll explain inside," Rae said.

"Damn right you will," the man seethed, "You'll be lucky if I ever let you out again!"

"Micah, calm down, I'm home now, I'm—

He slapped her so hard across the face that even the black car observing them cringed. The man dragged Rae inside, the door closing behind them. The car vented a sigh.

"Wheeljack to Megatron."

"Do you have the information I requested?"

"Affirmative, our target is no longer a resident of the Autobot base. I have the location of her current residence."

"Excellent work, Wheeljack."

"Oh, and sir…"

"What is it?"

"I don't know if this will interest you or not, but it appears that ex-boyfriend of hers is no longer an ex. And from the looks of it, he's violently possessive and abusive."

Megatron laughed so darkly that Wheeljack had to refrain from shuddering. "Sir?" he asked, confused by his leader's sudden mirth.

"He will be an ex again, soon enough."

Before Wheeljack could question his leader further, Megatron spoke again, revealing something that made the former Autobot's armor prickle with fear for the human.

"If Rae prefers that kind of treatment, then she's going to love me…"

Until the next chapter. Please review!