Things have settled in fairly well after the scraplet attack. A lot of the base has been repaired to the best of our abilities but some things are still on the fritz. We've been hard at work trying to get everything back in order but those little devils got into nearly every single nook and cranny to replace all the wires and components they chewed through but there is a lot to go through. The supports above and around the main room of the base had to be fixed and reinforced so we don't have anymore collapses around us. Thankfully when it came to the smaller areas the others were grateful for my assistance in fine fixing things and areas they couldn't get at themselves. Ratchet was more than happy with that as it was an annoyance that he did not want to leave unattended.

Still, it was crazy how such small little things were able to cause so much damage in so little time. Nearly all the Cybertron members of the autoboot team were almost killed by those scraplets, whether by getting devoured by them or cut off from the base by their sabotage of the ground bridge.

Wonder how the Decepticons would react to the idea of their own troops being incapable of taking out their sworn enemies and those little parasites coming close to being able to. Either way the whole thing sucked.

"Alright, try it now."

"Starting it up." Ratchet replies and with the press of a few buttons, the terminals monitors properly hum to life. "Uuhh, finally! Thank you Mason."

"No problem! Heyup!" I reply from my spot on the back of the computers. I jump down from my spot and land on the second flooring. Me and Ratchet have been working on the computers as best we can to get them properly working again as soon as we could. The rest of the team have taken to going out on more patrols since we were out of comms or monitoring for awhile what with the destruction the scraplets caused so we could make sure the decepticons weren't trying anything.

"All right. Chores are done. NOW can we do some dune-bashing?" Miko asks from her sitting spot on Bulkhead's shoulder as he walks into the main room. 'Well, almost everyone going on more patrols.' Right now is one of those moments where everyone is here in the base but lately it was Miko that was hanging out more often so Bulkhead wasn't going on as many patrols. Luckily for him and Miko, with the computer monitoring systems back in working order we can now keep track of decepticon activity without going on as many extensive patrols. 'Now if we can just get those Ground Bridge controls working…'

"I don't know, Miko. Last time, I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators. Uh, but, there's a monster-truck rally in town." Bulkhead shoots down the idea Miko made and opts another one instead. I shake my head and head over closer to Ratchet.

"So, is everything going alright?"

"Just about." He replies without taking his eyes, or optics technically, from the screens. "As long as our repairs hold together, and nothing else interrupts us, all systems are go." I smile at the info. However it turns to a frown as a spark pops out from the bridge controls nearby. Ratchet himself grumbles. "Now if only we can—" He begins speaking but an alarm goes off from the main terminal he's at. Whatever it is, it prioritizes everything else as he calls our leader. "Optimus I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system." Ratchet explains before typing a few more keys in the computer, getting more information on the mysterious object as everyone starts to come close. "It's an Autobot identification beacon."

"Autobot?" I mutter as I move closer to him.

"So there are other bots out there?" Jack asks.

"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark, but cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons." Arcee explains. 'Well that complicates things further.'

Optimus nods at the news before leaning closer to the console. "Unknown vessel, this is autobot outpost omega one. Identify yourself." He requests as he speaks to the comm computer.

"I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades." The new arrival replies back.

"Wheeljack?!" Before anyone else can make any guesses to the new person, its Bulkhead that seems to already know just who the new Autobot is. "You old con crusher! What are you doing all the way out here?" Bulkhead enthusiastically asks as he moves closer to the console.

"Bulkhead? That you? What's with all the security?" Apparently this Wheeljack knows Bulkhead, that's good, and asks in return.

"The rock we're on is crawling with cons. How soon can you get here and even the odds?" Bulkhead explains before asking.

"Sometime tomorrow if I put metal to the pedal."

"Another bot's coming here. How cool is that!" Miko happily states. When it comes to nearly anything of the Autobots, she always finds some way to be happy with it. In this case, I don't blame her as I too feel a little excited and happy to have another Autobot on the team. Will definitely take pressure off us to at least have an additional set of hands to help.

"Wheeljack… I know of him by reputation only." Optimus notes before looking to Bulkhead. "Can you verify his voiceprint?" He asks him seeing as how he's good friends with the new soon-to-be arrival.

"He is 1,000% the real deal, Optimus." Bulkhead states without a doubt in his voice on the Autobot on the other end of the comm.

Optimus nods before turning back to the computer. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack. Safe journey."

"See you soon, buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome." With the final comment from Bulkead, they shut off their comms.

"New Autobot… nice." I comment quietly.

"So, who's the boyfriend?" Arcee sarcastically asks.

"Haha, me and Jackie go waaaay back. We were part of the same war unit, the wreckers, which means the cons are gonna wish he never found us." He tells everyone with a smile on his face. This Wheeljack must be something else if just hearing his voice has Bulkhead so pumped.

"That's good. Any new help we can get will go a long way in easing our work." I point out.

"And Jackie is the best we're gonna get." Bulkhead excitedly states as he punches his fists together.

"Coordinates are sent." Ratchet tells us after sending the location of where he needs to go to his ship. "Now, we simply wait for him to arrive at the specified location." After he quickly explains, we nod and wait for several minutes for our guest to get to where he needs to go. All the Autobots mill about waiting patiently while us humans move closer to the monitors on the second floor.

"You think he's here to visit?" Raf asks.

"Maybe he'll stay!" Miko hopes before she starts thinking for some reason. "Hmm. Have to find his own human, though. Oh, hey Mason! Your free. Maybe you could be his partner." Miko proposes to me with a smirk.

I chuckle at the idea while I continue to stare and monitor Wheeljakcs location. "Maybe… let's just wait and see if he's staying first." I'm hoping he'll stay not because I could get my own Autobot partner, I'd have to see how he is first, but mostly because the Autobots could use ANY help they can get on this rock. Hopefully more often on the homefront than anywhere else.

On the screen, Wheeljack is getting close to his destination. "Ground bridge cycling up." Ratchet states but the controls crackle and short out. He punches it and gets it working again but we are still a little angry at the small malfunction. "Blasted scraplets! Equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation."

"Hopefully with Wheeljack's help we can finally fix it, sooner rather than later." I comment in slight disdain at the messed-up electronics.

Ratchet sighs before nodding slightly, "Hopefully…" He mutters before focusing on the controls again.

"So, wheeljack's gonna land halfway around the world and then you'll bridge him here?" Jack asks for clarification after seeing the ship fly past the Atlantic, 'Or is that the pacific?', on the monitor and the fact Ratchet is trying to get the Ground bridge working.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base just in case the Decepticons are tracking wheeljack's ship." Optimus explains why. I nod at the assessment. From what I can tell this place is pretty remote and while their were some Decepticons in Jasper, it's pretty obvious they don't know exactly where the Autobot base is, less they immediately try to tear apart the whole mesa to get at the base. For now, they probably just think the bots were just in the right spot the last time they fought in Jasper.

"Dude, I've never seen you so stoked!" Miko meanwhile points out as the green bot continues to walk around excited.

"Oh, you're gonna love Wheeljack. We were like brothers. And tonight we are gonna party!" He states loudly.

"Sweet!" Miko is happy about the idea too, but it seems the festivities will be placed on hold because alarms start blaring.

I glance to the monitor to see red dots now following Wheeljack. "Uh-oh."

"Bogies closing fast on wheeljack's position." Arcee says on what's going on.

"Con scum!" And Bulkhead is none too happy about it. Wheeljack despite being attacked manages to make it to the destination but the Decepticons aren't far behind and the dots immediately surround our ally. "Open the bridge, Ratchet! We're missing all the action!"

"I'll prepare sick bay." Ratchet says after activating the Ground bridge.

"Who for? The cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about." Bulkhead confidently says before he, Arcee and Bumblebee head on through.

While the attack force heads on through, the rest of us simply have to wait and hope for everyone's safe return and not need sick bay. Thankfully it doesn't take very long before they make their way back through the portal with a new addition in tow, our new teammate Wheeljack makes it through alright. As soon as they go through though, the controls for the bridge short out again, shutting the bridge, leaving Ratchet to sigh in defeat at the continued malfunction. Despite the failed bridge though, Bulkhead is happy nonetheless to have Wheeljack here.

"Jackie, come here. Meet my other best buddy, Miko. She can wreck with the best of us." Bulkhead wastes no time in introducing his human partner.

"Hiya." She waves to the new bot.

Wheeljack smiles as he leans in. "You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?"

"I try, but trouble finds us anyway."

"We're gonna get along just fine." He says to her and backs up, all the while Miko smiles happily at the new Autobot.

"More like YOU are the one that finds trou—"

*Smack*

"Ow!"

"Shush!" My comment doesn't get to finish as Miko smacks me in the stomach and shushes me. From what I remember all the times she's been here with the Autobots, there have been more than a few moments where it was Miko that got us into trouble. We don't really get into it or anything as Optimus makes his presence known to the new arrival.

"Optimus prime, it's a privilege."

"Likewise, soldier. What have you to report from your long journey?" Optimus asks Wheeljack.

"Been bouncing from rock to rock searching for signs of friend or foe. Now I find both." He states happily at the news.

"We are few, but strong." Optimus begins to say. "We have suffered losses," The memory of Cliffjumper pops into my head, as does the rest of the Autobots, "But we have grown." Us humans smile as he glances to us. "And we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold."

"I would be honored." And like that, Wheeljack is onboard with joining our little Autobot team.

"Then let's get this party started!" With that declaration, Bulkhead roughly hits Wheeljack but they start fighting and butting heads playfully, almost literally.

"Oh, joy." I chuckle as I hear Ratchet sadly state, no doubt annoyed at the new boisterous teammate we have on our team.

It's later in the day and while the wreckers get reacquainted, Miko finds the time to practice more on her electric guitar while some people mill about and others play a game or went out on patrol.

"Come on, Jackie. Show me what you got." A giant metal ball of scrap goes flying from one spot of the room to the other. "Uhhn! Oh! Haha! Nice lob." Bulkhead compliments his friend. Meanwhile Arcee, Jack and I are leaning off to the side.

"Soooo, what's that about?" Jack asks on what the two Wreckers are doing. To me it simply looks like their playing a simple ball game of just throwing it at each other.

"It's called lobbing," 'Well, at least they have a name for it.' "The favorite pastime on Cybertron, especially among the warrior class." She explains to us.

"Oh, cool. If they add a hoop to the mix, I'm just gonna call it basketball." I comment, which Jack nods. Meanwhile with Miko, she starts getting into her music playing a bit more.

"Come on, Raf! Show us some moves!" She demands of the kid further down on the ground with his partner. For a second I'm thinking he's not going to go for it but he surprised me

"Oh, all right." Raf agrees and to some of our amazements, his dance moves are… adequate for our present company.

"Of course… The robot." Jack names the dance.

"Hahaa! Nice Raf" I can't help but compliment the kid. He does the dance nicely. Even Bumblebee beeps his like of the dance and joins in, syncing his own dance move with his partner almost perfectly. All the while Ratchet groans at the displays of everyone in the room.

"W-where's Optimus?" Jack asks now that he sees everyone else is here but our leader.

"Went for a drive." Arcee says.

"Or patrol. Either or." I add.

"Primes don't party." She finishes saying. Whichever it is, I can definitely see Optimus not being the kind of bot to dance or party.

"Mason!" I look over at Ratchet as he calls me. "I need you."

"Coming!" I reply and head over to him. "See you."

"Later." Arcee replies as I jump over the rail and land on the ground floor.

I jog over to Ratchet until I make it to him as he continues to work on the bridge controls. "What's up? Need me to fix something?"

"Yes, uhhh could you check the wiring at the base down there? I'm hoping it's a simple short right there after the last jump and nothing deeper in." Ratchet asks me to do without taking his optics off the controls.

"No problem." Agreeing, I go ahead and slide on next to the controls while he works up top. I pull a panel off and see if there's anything out of the ordinary that obviously needs fixing. 'Okay, let's seeee here.' I think as I start sifting through the wires to look for any burned, frayed, or broken wiring of any kind.

"Coming at ya!" All while we work, I can hear the ball hitting metal harshly, which I assume is the Autobots having fun still.

"Mason watch out!"

"Huh?" I look up at the warning and my eyes widen as I see the giant metal ball falling down on me. "Whoa!" I push myself off the ground and roll away from my last spot just in time. A lot of tearing of metal and wiring can be heard as the metal ball hits the controls.

"You know, I am attempting to perform sensitive calibrations here!" Ratchet tells them angrily, in which I sort of find myself being just a little angry too.

"Sorry, doc. Guess we're a little charged up." Wheeljack apologizes to the medic and walks closer to us. "Sorry little man." He apologizes to me now as he grabs the scrap ball.

With a grunt, I jump to my feet and wipe the dirt off me. "Whatever. Just please don't try to squish me again." I demand as I walk back over to keep working. All the while, I keep my eyes on him so he doesn't drop anything on me again.

"You built this bridge from scratch, huh?" He asks Ratchet.

"I did." He simply replies without turning from work. Same with me as continue checking.

"That's quite a feat of engineering."

"…Yes, it is." Without turning my head, my glance to Ratchet as I find just a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Something wrong with it?" Come to think about it, Wheeljack sounds a little odd too, what with his fascination with the ground bridge… even though he's a warrior in Cybertronian caste.

"I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump. I put it in shutdown." Okay, now that gets my attention on the medic. 'Shutdown? But he didn't put it in shutdo—'

"What if you need to use it?" Wheeljack interrupts my train of thought at his continued insistence.

"Ohh, I can't disrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage." 'Ratchet, your acting a little… weird.' I can't help but think. There is no defragging he has to do on the computer. It's mostly mechanical and wiring problems we are having trouble with.

"So, uh, how long will the defrag take?"

"A few hours, if we're lucky. M-maybe longer." Ratchet sounds, very suspicious for some reason and on edge as he 'explains' what we're doing.

"Hmmm," I hear Wheeljack mumble and I can feel his optics on me as he glances between us working. "Well, hope you two manage to get this thing working again. I'm itching for action." He says and walks off.

While he goes, I glance at him. "Suuuuurre." I say before going back to working again. The base is all well and good so there aren't any problems there. I decide to go back up to the second floor so I can check under the controls themselves, just as precaution and so I can talk to Ratchet without speaking too loudly. "Pssst. Ratchet, what's with you? You okay?" I ask quietly without looking up and focusing on my work.

"Ehh, I'm fine. Just keep working." He dismisses me coldly.

"You sure? Because I 'know' you didn't put the bridge in shutdown." I say, reminding him of that little bit he told Wheeljack. He tenses a little as I bring it up but he soon continues working, after he glances to Wheeljack as he goes back to lobbing. "It's Wheeljack isn't it?" I ask quietly.

"… I don't know what it is, but that bot… is giving me a bad feeling, especially when he was inquiring about the ground bridge itself." Ratchet finally tells me what's bugging him. To be honest, I'm starting to get suspicious as well about the new addition.

"You think he wants something specifically, and not just to pall around with Bulkhead?" I ask as I glance to the two bots who start throwing the ball at each other again.

"Precisely." He mutters back to me. We delve into a small silence before he speaks up again. "Keep an eye on him will you? Report to me if he starts inquiring more on any… interesting topics, or sneaking around."

I nod at Ratchet's order. "Yes sir. You got it."

"Good." With our objectives in mind, we go back to working on the ground bridge to get it working again. All the while, I keep one eye on my work and the other on our new addition to our team. 'Hopefully I don't have to report back on anything… but I guess we'll see.'

"So there we were… No communications, low on energon, surrounded by cons. So, what does Wheeljack do? Tell them, Jackie." Bulkhead begins to go talking about a story from his past and shifts the focus to Wheeljack. I've worked what I can on the controls so for the time-being I'm going to do what Ratchet asked me to do and keep an eye on Wheeljack.

"Well… What I do best." He replies.

"Hahahaaa! He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger." Bulkhead finishes telling the story.

"Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time."

"The joint went supernova!"

"Awesome!" Miko is excited and enraptured by the story but I'm still on the fence considering Wheeljack kept dodging the chances to tell the story.

"Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside."

"I'm not surprised given the size of your backside." Arcee comments, making me and Bumblebee chuckle at the jab to Bulkhead. Once we are done laughing, I can't help but notice Wheeljack's focus on Ratchet and the ground ridge controls.

"There it is, Jackie's signature… One grenade, one shot." Bulkhead says but he gets worried when he sees Wheeljack's focus elsewhere. "Hey, you all right?"

"What?"

"You don't seem like yourself."

"Well, what do you mean?" Wheeljack asks.

"I don't know. You seem quiet." Bulkhead surmises.

"Aw, I've been stuck in a can too long. I should go topside before I get stir-crazy." Wheeljack proceeds to put off the worriedness his friend is feeling.

"I have patrol in the morning. You can come with."

"Let's go now." Wheeljack proposes they go instead. 'And yet another red flag.' His insistence to go out adds more fuel to the suspicious fire.

"And break up the party? Come on! The gang's loving you! You got to tell them about the battle of Darkmount Pass!" Bulkhead thankfully shoots down that idea instead.

"You tell them. You're better at it. How about if Miko here shows me the rest of your base?" If he's not going to go outside, now Wheeljack decides he wants to explore the place instead.

"Well, yeah, sure, Jackie. Hey, go ahead." Bulkhead is hesitant at first but is alright with it. I'm not alright with it but I can't really voice my disagreement of it.

"Tour starts now." Miko agrees as she jumps off the crate she's sitting on and starts walking away with her charge in tow. "Do you play any instruments? Can you fly? Have you thrashed more Decepticons than bulkhead?" She continuously badgers him with more questions as they walk away. All the while Bulkhead seems pretty out of it.

"You all right?" Arcee asks.

"Yeah, just… Out of sorts, I guess." He answers

"Don't tell me you're jealous." She states but he and I both know that's not what's bothering him.

"That Miko's making a new friend? Come on. Something… Something's just not right about Wheeljack." It looks like Bulkhead is starting to see the oddities that Wheeljack is starting to exhibit.

"Bulkhead, really? He's traveled galaxies. You haven't seen him for centuries. He could just be rocket-lagged or… Well, bots do change, you know?" She says some reasons as to why the differences for Wheeljack.

"Not Jackie." Bulkhead is firm with his caution of his friend. I smirk seeing as how me and Ratchet aren't the only ones that somewhat see it. For now though, I'm not comfortable sending an oblivious Miko to give Wheeljack a complete tour of our base.

"I'm going to work some more in my room." I mention out loud to them but they barely acknowledge me as Bulkhead continues to debate his doubt on Wheeljack.

"So, that's pretty much it. Energon stockpile, power generator, armory… Everything you need to blow the joint sky high." Miko doesn't really see the oddity of the locations she was asked to go find by Wheeljack as she gives him the tour. Wheeljack looks around as they continue to go but before he asks the location of where they are at, a new room gets his attention.

"What's that?"

"Oh, that's Mason's room." Miko informs him as without a care she walks in through the barely being fixed wall entrance. Some rebar is already in place to start fixing the broken walls and then ready to put in the new doors.

"Who?"

"Mason. Human. Broody, quiet, working with Ratchet, you almost killed him earlier." She names off some things.

"Oh, him. Right. He lives here?" Wheeljack asks as he walks in with her, taking note of the computer on the far wall and the assembly lines in the center of the room.

"Yep! Living in this exact room, filled with junk metal, computers, explosives, factory belts—"

"And two guests I don't remember letting in."

"Yeah! Wait…" Miko is confused at the additional voice before she and Wheeljack turn around to see Mason leaning against the wall at the entrance, crossed arms and annoyed look and all. "Oh! Hey Mason. We were just—"

"Leaving." He finishes her sentence and pushes himself off the wall and walking past them. "I've got work to do here and I'd appreciate the silence." He tells them as he walks over and sits down at his computer.

"Ughhh, fine! C'mon Wheeljack." Miko sulks at the order but goes nonetheless. She waves for Wheeljack to follow her as they make their way out. "See what I mean? Broody." He hears her say just as they leave. Mason makes no attempt to retort as starts booting up his computer, but doesn't actually turn it on. Once he hears the fading thuds of Wheeljack's steps, he gets back up and quickly moves back to the doorway. Peaking out, he sees them fully making their way back to the main room. Without uttering a sound Mason continues his tail of the duo.

'Now tell me Wheeljack? Why would you want to know where our energon stockpile is, the power generator and our armory? And why were you eyeing the crates in my room?' He thinks sarcastically as he continues to follow and listen to them.

After I caught them in my room, Miko and Wheeljack went back to the main room where everyone else, all while I was able to keep out of sight of them. The things that Wheeljack asked to see where definitely incriminating in some cases so while they get back to Bulkhead, I make a beeline to Ratchet to inform him.

"Ratchet!" I quietly yell as I move in front of him on the second floor.

"Mason? Is everything alright?" He whispers back but it looks like the others are preoccupied.

"No. You were right. Wheeljack is up to something. He had Miko show him where we keep our energon, the generator and the armory. All the things he can use to make this place go boom!" I hastily explain what's going on.

"That… is some suspicious behavior. But he hasn't—"

"Miko! Stay out of this!" Bulkheads loud demand interrupts us. He looks angrily at Wheeljack for whatever reason while Arcee tries to defuse whatever situation may be volatile.

I look back at Ratchet as I begin making my way to the others. "I'll keep an eye out. Keep working on that." I say before making my way back to the others, next to my human friends.

"Tell it!" As soon as I make it, an almost tense standoff can be felt as they glare at each other from Bulkhead's outburst.

"…Fine. You want to live in the past, bulkhead?" Us humans glance at each other uncertainly about the situation but turn back as Wheeljack begins speaking, recounting the story that Bulkhead wants. "The wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit. The 'cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left them for scrap, then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping-stones to cross the molten metal. Isn't that how it happened?" Wheeljack finishes as he asks the last question to Bulk.

"Yeah. That's exactly how it happened… Except for one little thing," Wheeljack tenses up at what I think is a possible mistake in his story. "I wasn't there." 'Oh, that's pretty big mistake.' I can't help but think as all eyes are now on him.

"Oh." I can hear Ratchet mutter behind us while I carefully maneuver myself close to Miko since she's the closest to Wheeljack and lay my hand on my pistol behind me subtly.

"I'd already left the wreckers to join up with Optimus, but you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public-service record." And just like that Bulkhead calls out the imposter in front of everyone I see the other Autobots tense up at the news, same with me as I grip the handle of my pistol. 'I may not be able to do much damage, but I can at least be a nuisance.'

"Bulkhead, what does that have to do with- Ahh!" As soon as I see Wheeljack move, I push Miko behind me. She's safe from the imposter but I'm the one that gets grabbed instead.

"Arh!" I grunt as the bot's hand grips me all around before I can pull out my pistol.

"Mason!" I hear Arcee and Bulkhead yell out my name but I simply groan as my arm is pinned to my side, making me unable to pull it out and shoot my captor in the face. He runs over to the bridge controls and holds me outwards to everyone.

"Stay back, or I'll squeeze him into pulp." Wheeljack speaks in a darker more eviler voice now, showing us his true colors.

"Wheeljack, what are you doing?!" Miko asks loudly in surprise at the turn of events.

"I knew it! I knew there was something off about you! Even Ratchet saw it!" I can't help but yell at the bot in anger as I slam my free hand into his hand even though it doesn't do anything. Ratchet meanwhile is forced to move back away from the fake, most likely so he doesn't do anything rash with me. 'Let me get my arm free, then I'll show him rash.'

"Decepticon coward! Let him go and face me!" Bulkhead angrily demands but if this guy is really a Decepticon, then he won't take the challenge.

"Don't fret. Plenty of fighting to come." I don't like the way that the fake says, or what he's planning.

"Is there a real Wheeljack?" Jack asks amidst the whole situation.

"Oh, indeed, and I expect lord Starscream is making sport of him." The fake Wheeljacks tone and info seems to make Bulkhead pretty pissed off at the idea of his friend having been captured. The fake wastes no time in plugging in some codes in the controls for the ground bridge. I growl as I watch the display start to charge up. 'Of course NOW the bridge is working.' "About time." As per his words, we all watch as the ground bridge powers up and forms the usual green swirl. The fake smiles as he starts backing up to the portal with the others slowly closing in on him. I know the others won't attack this jackass. Not with me stuck as his captive. 'So it's me then.' With that thought in mind, I wrench my arm painfully a few times before I finally get free. "Let's get this party started."

"I don't think so."

"Hm?" He looks directly at me. Big mistake.

*Bang*Bang*

"Argh!" He yells in pain as my bullets impact right in his face and very close to his eyes.

"Whoa!" In surprise after getting shot, the fake throws me forward high into the air as he grips his face in pain.

"I gotcha!" Thankfully I don't go too far or hit the ground as I feel Arcee grab me from the air. She lands easily on the ground away from our enemy before setting me. "You okay?"

"Ohhh, yeah. Yeah I'm… I'm good." I try to assure her that I'm good but the tumbling through the air leaves me a little disoriented. I almost lose my balance once I fully stand but I quickly shake the dizziness from me before looking back at my captor, and see he's very angry as he glares at me.

"Why you little… Arh!" Before he can finish threatening me however, what I hope is the real Wheeljack, bursts through the portal and nails the fake right in the back. Once the fake is knocked down to the ground, he looks at us all.

"I'd shut that hole before the stink comes through."

"Ratchet." I call the bots name, who nods and quickly makes his way to the controls before shutting the portal down. Without a way out, the fake and real Wheeljack are now both stuck here as they both begin circling each other as they prepare to fight, both of them with dual curved swords ready to fight and decimate each other. Both their swords are curved but are not Katana's by any means, the tips of the blades are a bit wider than the normal ones, almost like a machete's but their not those either. I'm leaning towards more like a hybrid of the two types of swords, or maybe Scimitars. Bulkhead moves close, flexing his fists as he gets ready to scrap the imposter of his friend.

"Ugly's mine." The real Wheeljack declines help from Bulkhead. He steps back as the two finally get into a stance and move to attack.

They both slash at each other, fully engaging in combat. They try to cut each other but they easily block each other's attacks. The fight starts off fast as they continuously go about trying to hit the other with high or low attacks. All the while they continue to move about as the fighting intensifies as they both come close on several strikes to take out the other.

"Which one is the real Wheeljack?" Raf asks as he adjusts his glasses.

"Uh, I lost track!" Miko shouts as she fails to keep track of the continued fighting and movement all over. I'll admit I'm having trouble too but after a hard fight, what I hope is the real Wheeljack after having one of his swords knocked out of his hand, attacks the fake and after some low hard punches, he hits one of the fakes swords out of his hand and grabs the last sword in the fakes hand. With a rough pull, he sends his knee into his face, grabbing the sword out of the air and knocks down the fake straight to the ground, where he points the sword right at its face on the ground.

"That's my Jackie." I smile in slight relief after hearing Bulkhead confirm the victor is his friend. Wheeljack for his part sheathes his swords on his back.

"You, hit the switch." He tells Ratchet. "It's time to take out the trash. All yours, buddy." He says the last part to Bulkhead. Ratchet does what he's told and quickly turns on the bridge Without wasting any time, Bulkhead proceeds to grab the fake, spins him around a few times to gain momentum before sending him flying through the portal, while also impacting some Decepticons that were about to come through the portal. "Nice lob." Wheeljack comments to Bulkhead on his throw. Not wanting any more unwanted guests, Ratchet shuts down the portal.

"It's like a recurring nightmare." Ratchet groans after hearing the music and dancing again.

"Awww, c'mon Ratchet. We just flushed out a spy in our midst. The others deserve a chance to unwind." I tell Ratchet as I lean against the rail close to him, gesturing to the group dancing and mingling. Well, Arcee is simply mingling while Miko plays her guitar and Jack, Raf and Bumblebee are dancing. Optimus, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and I are around Ratchet as he works. Ratchet though simply grunts at my words.

"Now that you're part of team prime, we need to pick out a vehicle mode for you. I have some ideas." Bulkhead wastes no time in trying to get Wheeljack acquainted and situated here on Earth. Although from the weird expression he's giving off, he doesn't seem as enthusiastic with the idea.

"Uh, about that, Bulk…" 'There it is.' "Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there." He tells his friend sadly.

"Wait. You're leaving? Why?" Miko asks as she, Raf and Jack walk up to him with her being sad no doubt.

Wheeljack looks at her but Bulkhead speaks up before he can talk. "Ohh… Because some bots never change." At the saying from his friend, Wheeljack smiles seeing as Bulkhead knows him so well.

"Wheeljack, know that you'll always have a haven here." Optimus offers to the soon to be departing Autobot. If he's going out there all alone, should he ever need a place to rest and recuperate, or maybe need some backup, the earthbound Autobots have his back.

"Jackie never stays, but he always comes back." Bulkhead says as he pats his friends back with Wheeljack patting back just a bit rougher.

Not much time later we make our way through the portal to find Wheeljack's ship and get ready to say our goodbyes to him. Thankfully when he was shot down there wasn't a lot of considerable damage done to the craft to warrant massive repairs and long times out of commission. Barely a day and already he's ready to go, much to some our disappointments that we aren't getting a more permanent addition to our team here on Earth.

"There's room for two Bulk, even with a backside like yours. Who knows who we might find out there… Some of the old crew?" Wheeljack proposes the two of them go do. 'Oh man, don't tell me where going to lose another one?' I can't help but think. While I would be happy with Bulkhead and all, him reconnecting with an old friend and all, it'd still suck now if he goes. Bulkhead turns back to us at the question. Miko is no doubt worried at the idea of losing her best Autobot friend as me, Jack and Raf console her.

"Heh. It sounds like fun, Jackie. But my ties are here now with them… With her." Thankfully none of us have to worry about losing him as he declines the offer, then says the last part about Miko.

Wheeljack for his part only looks slightly sad at the decline but he smiles nonetheless at his friends choice. He glances to us, more specifically Miko. "If anything happens to my favorite wrecker, I'm coming after you." He playfully threatens her.

"I'll take good care of him." She replies with her own smirk to the departing wrecker. "Now, say 'cheese.'" And just like that, Miko takes a picture of the two wreckers together, a memento to not be forgotten.

"Well, we may not have a new member at the base, but its nice to know we have an active scout in space." I mutter with my arms crossed.

"That's true." Arcee speaks. "We can handle the ground, let's let the space jockey do the exploring."

I chuckle at that last sentence of hers.

Hey everyone. Late Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and happy New Years to you all. Wanna say I'm sorry for the long few months without any updates to this story. Lots of stuff happened that kept me preoccupied or focused my attention elsewhere. Projects for school hit me hard, issues with the internet as a whole freaked me out, my previous laptop broke that almost made me lose EVERYSINGLE chapter and work I ever did during over the last year.

That means every word I've written for all my stories since I started writing, including all my saved work on my semester projects for my college classes were almost completely lost to me. If it wasn't for my uncles recovering my files, I would have lost everything and had only a couple weeks to do my college projects again. That week left me completely depressed, angry and sad but everythings all goo now. As an apology for going a few months without a chapter update, I'm going to do several chapters in a row for each of my stories to make up for the hell that has been the last couple months. Starting with this story. Then I'll do a few as well for my other stories before going back to a comfortable work state on all my work, provided nothing else comes up that hinders me.

Another thing I'm also going to do everyone is reply to everyone's reviews here, both guests and those with accounts, that way if someone asks a question that others want to know as well, they can see the answer here.

Fluffy guy: Thank you.

This was the only guest review for the last chapter and I had already replied to the other reviews so from this point further, all review replies will go into the author notes at the end of each chapter for all my stories.

Sorry again for the delay and hopefully their won't be any more sudden delays in the future. Thank you for your patience, fave, follow, review, have a great day and as always, have fun reading.