A/N: SezWho - Glad you enjoyed the dose of action in the last chapter, there's much more to come! And you know I can never get enough of our bantering B-boys, Brawl 'n Barricade, they'll definitely be coming around to express their frustrations. XD

To my vonderful readers and reviewers, Please Enjoy and Review!

I jolt online as a quiet beeping sounds in my processor, my visor lighting up to observe my surroundings. Stiffly, I sit up and give my helm a shake, slowly remembering that I'm on Wheeljack's couch in his lab. A soft humming of hard drive disks draws my attention over to a small, sleeping form at the other end of the couch; Siren. I don't even remember falling asleep, I was so exhausted from everything that happened earlier. From the looks of things, it must be the lunar cycle, all the lights either off or dimmed down, stars visible through the windows.

I'm brought out of my thoughts and remember what woke me as the beeping again sounds in my processor; I'm getting a comlink request. Primus… it's Mom. She must think I'm dead, or wandering around in the desert wasteland between Iacon and Polyhex…

Do I let her know I'm alive…? Of course I should, she must be so scared… but then she'll try telling me not to do what I'm planning to, or send Prowl after me.

I have to be a mech now. I can't let her avert me from what I have to do.

:Mom?: My voice is a bit higher-toned than I'd intended.

:Nightbeat! Oh, Primus, Beatie! Are you okay? Please tell me where you are, sweetie, we'll come get you! Is Siren with you?:

My dizzy processor is only sent on more of a whirl by her pounding questions, and I have to take a moment to think straight, :Mom, I'm okay, Siren's okay, too… Mom, I can't come back to Iacon yet.:

There's a pause.

:Beatie, what are you talking about? You're—you don't have to go to the Polyhex school, baby, I told Prowl he could just shove—:

:I know, Mom, I know I'm not going to the school…:

I can feel her processor working on my words, knowing all too well how to encrypt them; just like she had to with my father. :Nightbeat… baby, what's going on? Where are you?:

I can hear the rising fear in her voice. This is a pivotal moment, for both of us. I must admit, I'm a little scared, too… once I do this, I can't go back. Everything will be different.

:Mom… I can't tell you where I'm going. I can't let anybot stop me. I have to do this myself, and… I'm doing a good thing, Mom. I'm doing this… for both of us.:

:Beatie, I love you, I know you're a good boy, but please—baby, I can't lose you, come home, we can work this out together…: The hysteria rises in her voice with every word. She knows I'm slipping away, and that she can't pull me back. I'll have to pull myself back.

I have to cut this short, or else I'll let her talk me out of it. Also… I don't know how much more of this I can listen to before my spark gives.

:I love you, too, Mom. I'll come home, but first I have to do this. I love you. G'night…:

With that, I cut the line, and feel my optics sting, my spark tightening in my chest. My intakes tremble as I suck in a deep breath of air. I'm scared. This is it. I'm not a kid anymore. I have to be the smart one, the fast one, the strong one. I have to do it all on my own.

I turn my helm and glance over at my sleeping friend, noting how round and soft his cheeks look in the dim lighting. Look at him. He's just a baby. He's not ready for this, the kind of fearful jump that I'm facing. He's not ready to let go of his innocent naivety, to step out of his shell of ignorant bliss; to see the world like I do.

And maybe I'm not ready to let him. Maybe the thought of him being happy and carefree helps me sleep at night. Maybe he's the last ember of bittersweet childhood that I can turn to.

"Havin' trouble sleepin', kid? Heh, I don't even bother trying these days." I look over to see Wheeljack leaning on the doorway to the hangar, his gleeful helm fins and the light from behind him spilling into the dark lab.

I take a final look at Siren before quietly standing from the couch, leaving him in peaceful recharge as I cross the lab and join the other mech. Stepping into the hangar, my gaze turns upward as I look over the culmination of four years of work; The Veilleur. Mirage and I commissioned Wheeljack for it, thinking we'd someday leave Cybertron and see what lies beyond the dead spacebridges in the sky. Of course, Raj put the money into it, while I worked with Wheeljack to perfect the specs and details, learning along the way how to maintain it once it was ready.

It's not the biggest ship, only having enough room in the cockpit to house four average height Cybertronians along with a small recharge slab in the back and a storage closet. What the Veilleur lacks in size, however, it makes up for plenty in speed. It's a good thing it's fast, too, as Wheeljack refused to put any kind of weapons on it save for a set of small EMP forward canons; just enough to brush off any unwelcomed space goers to buy time for a speedy escape.

I cross my arms and smirk in pride at the accomplishment, though a part of me aches, wishing Raj was here to join me. My moment is brought toppling down, however, when I see a massive form step out from behind the ship, my vocalizer catching, "Grimlock?" I turn my helm sharply to Wheeljack, "Jack, what's he doing here? What is this?"

Wheeljack raises his hands in a peaceful attempt to calm me down, "Listen, kid, just hear 'im out, you might be interested in his offer…"

"What offer?" I look to the towering Dinobot with an uncertain snarl curling my lip.

Grimlock crosses over from the ship to where I am and looks down at me, bearing down on me with his excessive height and crimson visor, "I know what you're planning. Here to tell you—it's not a good idea, the way you're planning it. Kid like you,' get eaten nano-klik you leave the exosphere."

I frown and glare straight back up at the huge mech, letting him know he's not gonna push me around to get whatever he's after, "Oh yeah? And what's your wisdom-enriched point, Grimlock?"

A cloud of steam leaves the intricate shapes of Grimlock's faceguard at my snappish retort. He points his thumb at himself, "Need bodyguard. I'm offerin', for free."

It wouldn't be a bad idea, obviously, to have a huge, blood-thirsty bot around to watch one's aftplates. However, nothing is ever free. Knowing Grimlock, he's got an ulterior motive; he's not one for charity or having a known soft spot for kids. I tilt my helm and give him a suspicious look, "Sure you are, Grimlock. So why don't you tell me why you're really here so we can save some time?"

Another vent of steam billows from his helm as his fists twitch; he's not used to bots talking back to him, but by now, he should expect it from me. "Somethin' in Beta-Tri Quadrant that I'm lookin' for. Same place you goin', I can assume, so why not kill two jets with one bolt."

Ah, there we go. I cross my arms and lean my weight on one hip, absently aware of how much I must look like my mother when she gets an attitude, "See, now we're on the same page. One problem, though. I ain't gonna be your chauffer, Grim, and I don't even wanna know what kind of slag you've got goin' in the Beta-Tri Quad. I'm only after one thing, and that's the truth." I almost roll my optics at my own cheesy line.

"Pretty sure of yourself, kid, seeing that you don't know how you even gonna get there."

It's Grimlock's turn to be smug as he crosses his arms. He's got a point. While I have all the maps I could ever need to get to Beta-Tri, I don't have the kind of fuel available to actually take me that far. I figure I'd have to stop at several fueling stations along the way, which could potentially attract unwanted notice from whatever kinds of lowlifes lurk across the galaxy.

Grimlock decides to continue as he senses he's got me thinking over his words, "Decepticon Seekers get out there fast, make it worth their while by not wasting resources."

"And you know how they travel out there?"

A nod accompanies his reply, "They got their own spacebridge."

Both Wheeljack and I double-take at Grimlock's response, "That's impossible… how could they repair one of the bridges without anybot on Cybertron noticing? All ya have to do is look up to see if they look any shinier than they did the day before…"

"Didn't repair one of the old ones, 'built a new one, did the construction in a nebula to hide it. I know which nebula."

So that's why the Decepticons have been so quiet up to this point for the past seven years… they've been building a spacebridge, and I never even got a whiff of it. Scrap. I can't let Grimlock drag me or my ship on one of his psychotic revenge trips, quite confident that that's exactly what he has waiting for him in the Beta-Tri Quadrant. I need to know where that spacebridge is, though…

"Is the spacebridge guarded?" Wheeljack and I jolt at the sudden fourth voice and I look down to find Siren standing next to me. Crafty little bugger, when did he come in here?

Apparently Grimlock didn't see the tiny mech's entrance, either, as he growls and comes closer, puffing steam in Siren's face, "You'd rather babysit little blue kid instead of have me cover your aft, Nightbeat?"

Siren attempts to give an indignant frown, but his faceplates cringe up as he leans away from the Dinobot, "I'm his partner, I'm gonna help him!"

Grimlock growls and picks at his audio receptor at the little bot's loud retort, "Got a loud mouth on 'im, he'll only get you into trouble." With that, he picks Siren up by the helm, inciting a squeek from the bot.

I let out a defensive growl and go at the Dinobot, swinging my fists at him, but find my shots are coming up short as Grimlock's large hand rests on my helm, keeping me at bay, "Leave 'im alone, Grimlock, he's got nothin' to do with our business!" I regret my ill-put words the moment they leave my vocalizer. Glancing to Siren, I'm met by a surprisingly hot-tempered glare from him as he hangs stiffly from the other mech's hold. Great. Nice going.

Wheeljack's voice chimes into the thick, tension-filled air with a tone of alarm, "Eh, sorry ta interrupt the love-fest, fellas, but we've got a problem. My motion detectors just picked somethin' up comin' from the Northside, it might be some Enforcers comin' around to make their daily sweep a' the joint."

A low gurgling sound rolls out of Grimlock's vocalizer as he drops Siren and looks over to Jack. Reaching out, I try to assist my friend, only to receive a cold shoulder.

I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose, a habit I must've picked up from Prowl at some point. "Great, as if the timing couldn't be any—"

I'm cut off as the large outer door of the hangar is suddenly blasted open, and instinctively I tackle Siren down. Looking up, I'm surprised to see Grimlock standing over us in a protective manner as a thunderous growl bellows from his throat, red visor focused on the blasted entrance.

"C'mon, Siren, move!" Gathering him up onto his peds, I take Siren's arm and pull him to shelter behind the ship.

We both yelp as a second round suddenly fires into the warehouse, closely missing my ship before it explodes onto an opposing wall. Looking around the ship, I can feel my optics nearly bust through my visor when I see two familiar forms stepping through, "Aw, frag!"

Barricade's electric yellow optics pierce through the flames surrounding the makeshift entrance as he steps through, looking to his awaiting opponent before smirking sharply, "Grimlock, what are the odds… I always knew you were a rat."

Grimlock's visor flares, making him look even more homicidal than usual as he brandishes a white-hot sword. My tanks sink as I see Brawl stand from his tank-mode and come up behind his comrade.

Slag just hit the fan.