Secret

Throughout the rest of Leader-1's roll call, everyone was completely silent. The atmosphere had become tense and blocky, like a makeshift wall of bricks. Nobody was daring to speak or move. The "confrontation," so to speak, with Inferno was fresh in our heads (having only happened just a few minutes ago), and, suddenly, in our minds, Leader-1 had become some sort of dangerous animal, one who would rip a Minicon apart limb by limb with the slightest provocation. And no one wanted to be the one to set him off.

Honestly though, for all our fear, Leader-1 wasn't acting like a dangerous animal. More like he had seen one. The horrified look he had worn earlier had not completely faded, giving him the appearance of someone with a ghost floating over his shoulder… one that made him feel guilty instead of scared, as if it was his fault that the ghost was there.

He was trying; I can say that for him. He had resumed his reading of everyone's work partners, trying to look as though everything was normal and nothing really disturbing had just happened. Or, even, that something had happened, but he just didn't care. But his usual calm tone was gone; his spark not in it.

I'm not entirely sure at what point I realized that he hadn't called my name yet. I mean with all the… uh… excitement, you wouldn't think I would still be capable of thinking about such trivial things. But you should never underestimate the power of pure, unfiltered selfishness. Somewhere between the twentieth and thirtieth person, it occurred to me that I still hadn't been called and that the number of people I could be partnered up with was quickly dwindling. Ridiculous, I know. It didn't matter; it didn't mean anything. The list wasn't in alphabetical order or anything. In fact, it didn't seem to be in any kind of order whatsoever. It was completely childish that I was even able to notice him not calling my name at all. But, still.

Leader-1 kept going. "Armorhide: Hawkeye. Iceberg: Ransack." Still my name hadn't been called. Did he skip me? The question popped up before I could stop it. I wanted to look around, but I was hesitant, seeing as the last time I took a "look around," I nearly got into a fistfight with Inferno. I couldn't believe this. Why would Leader-1 skip me? He didn't skip Inferno. Heck, he sent him and Prowl off right away, without giving him any kind of punishment. This wasn't fair.

There I go, overreacting again.

The worst jolt of all came when Leader-1 paused after reading the last couple of names ("Nightscream: Ironhide. And don't try anything funny, kid. She's tough."), looked around at the block and said flatly, "Well, I think that's everyone," and started to walk away. Everyone began chattering (though in a somewhat subdued tone) and dispersing, leaving me standing at the front of the group like an idiot. I think I had a slight malfunction; I didn't seem to be able to quite register what just happened. Then the panic started up again. Oh, Primus, what horrible event awaited me this time?

Little did I know, it was worse than I could've ever imagined. Leader-1, who looked as though he was in the process of heading for the door, stopped mid-step and said, "Oh. I almost forgot. Grid, you're with Blackout. Now everyone get busy."

You see? Worse than I ever imagined!

"No!" I shouted in despair.

"Yes!" I heard Blackout exclaim happily. I'm pretty sure he was clapping. I wanted to kick him.

I was about ready to complain loudly about this, but then I stopped myself. What the heck was I doing? Did I really have the nerve to complain to Leader-1 about being with Blackout when he had clearly suffered enough slag already? Was I really that selfish? That arrogant? No. No, no, this was fine. I would bear it. After all, I hung out with Blackout every… single… day… It wasn't anything I couldn't handle completely. I would not bring this up with him. I would not.

At least, that's the train of thought I had when Leader-1 turned to me, noticed the way I was vacantly standing there doing nothing and the look on my face, and said, in the calmest voice I could imagine him producing, "Is something the matter, Grid?"

Okay, this was ridiculous. This guy should not have time to worry about me! He clearly had enough of his own problems. What the heck did he think he was doing? Was he really asking about me? How I felt? I wanted to yell at him. "Think about yourself for a change!"

For a second I considered lying, saying everything was perfectly fine, and just walking away. But there was something in Leader-1's look of quiet expectation that made me come clean. I sighed and said, "Well, okay. Yeah. How come I'm partnered with Blackout?"

Leader-1's optics flickered off and on again in a kind of blink. I could imagine all too well why. I must've sounded like a sparkling. Why do I have to play with him? I don't wanna play with him.

Then, get this, Leader-1 walked closer to me and said, with a completely straight face: "Well, Gridsy. I assumed you would get jealous if I put him with anyone else." I kid you not. That is exactly what he said.

I was incensed. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean!?" I fumed.

There was still too much pain on Leader-1 face for him to really smile, but he managed to sound at least slightly amused. "Oh, calm down, Grid. I was just messing with you."

I felt my right optic twitch, just a little. Leader-1 starting on me was the last thing I needed! On the other hand, if this was making him feel even a little better, I certainly wasn't going to snap at him. This was the guy who had nearly turned Inferno into a donut, after all.

When Leader-1 spoke again, all the amusement was gone completely. (It's not like it was very deeply rooted in the first place.) "I'm sorry," he said, quietly "You want to know the real reason?" I nodded.

"We partnered you with Blackout for the simple reason that Blackout seems to listen to you." Leader-1 said, giving me a searching look. "That's why."

I stared. It seemed to me that Leader-1 was speaking a foreign language. "What?" I asked dumbly. Then I laughed uneasily. "No he doesn't!" I was grinning, waiting for him to tell me that he was joking again.

Leader-1 looked dead serious. "I mean it," he said. I could tell he thought he was being honest. I only continued staring. "Blackout listens to you. He's put his complete faith and trust in you. You're looking at me like I'm crazy. I know what you're thinking. 'There's no way…' right?" He attempted another smile. It fell flat. "Well, there is a way, apparently, and you've found it. You've earned Blackout's complete respect. And that's something I can't say about anyone else."

"Have you-?" I started to splutter. "Have you even seen us together? Like, at all?" My voiced sounded hysterical.

Leader-1 hacked up a really loud, uncomfortable laugh. It sounded painfully forced. "Honestly, I have," he said, seeming only vaguely amused. "And believe me, when he's around you, he's a lot calmer than he usually is. Did you happen to see him this morning? I wasn't aware he was capable of standing still for so long."

You mean… He's actually worse!? I thought to him, still gaping. I was incredulous. I couldn't imagine Blackout being more, well, like himself than he already was. I was annoyed; no way this was true. No way. Leader-1 had to be making fun of me. Again.

I was also slightly humiliated that he'd mentioned the rude awakening I'd received earlier. And that he managed to accurately quote what I was thinking.

When I continued to gawk at him, he felt he had to elaborate further. "You remember what happened between Blackout and his…" He carefully stepped over Inferno's name. "…partner two days ago, yes?"

Of course.

"Naturally, High Wire was shocked when he found out. We all were. And embarrassed, too, I think. Some of us were, ah, fortunate enough…" He seemed to spit the word. "…to know personally the Minicon we had saddled Blackout with. We expected something like this from him, but not on the first day, and definitely not to that extreme." He sighed. Such a strange sound, coming from him. "I'm not really sure whose brilliant idea it was to pair those two up," he muttered. "It must've been random. But the point is, that we see mistakes like this, and this time around, we do try to fix them.

"For instance, two days ago, Inferno displayed what would officially be called 'aggressive behavior,' " Leader-1 continued bitterly. I couldn't help but notice the extra dose of irony he added to everything he said. Clearly, he felt the same way I did about such Sparkplug-like phrasing. "To try and tone this down, we wanted to partner Inferno with the nicest, most tolerant bot possible. So, he ended up with Prowl." His expression changed, looking almost sheepish. "I… do feel a little guilty about it, but he should be able to handle himself. You know, probably."

I wasn't so sure, but I nodded slowly anyway.

"Similarly, with Blackout we wanted someone who wouldn't lose his temper with him at the drop of a screw," said Leader-1. "Under the circumstances, we decided that that person was you."

"Ha!" I scoffed, though it was becoming more and more apparent that this wasn't a joke. "Leader-1, I lose my temper at Blackout all the time! Like every day!" I shouted, trying to make him see the obvious. "You're making a mistake! I can't control myself! I'm not much better than Inferno! I'm going to lose it, Blackout's going to get sent back to Longarm, and everyone will know and hate me for it!"

"You stood up for him," he said quietly.

"That was just because-!" I started, but I couldn't finish. I couldn't find a reason why I had done this. Not one that would prove my point, anyway. "Look!" I started over, sounding desperate, "You and Blackout both seem to be under the impression that I'm some kind of great guy when I'm not! I'm a crook! I'm a thief! I've stolen things! I've… I've probably hurt people! Why do you think I'm still here!?"

Leader-1 was silent for a moment. Then he said, in the quietest, most defeated voice I had ever heard him use, "Why do you think I am?"

I was startled. The expression on Leader-1's face was one of absolute misery. His words from earlier flashed through my head. "I… I would know this better than anyone." "But," I started weakly, "but you said…"

"I know what I said," he muttered simply.

I was too overwhelmed to say anything. Maybe that's for the best; there was nothing to say. So all that talk of "being more useful here" and "not feeling well" really were complete lies, after all. Well, if that was true, then what was the real reason Leader-1 was here? Had he gotten into some kind of trouble? What had he done?

Leader-1 scrutinized me for a second, then took a quick side-to-side double take, as if to make sure no one was watching. He gestured towards me in a conspiratorial way. After a second's hesitation, I leaned in towards him. "Will you please just trust me?" he asked, in a low voice, "And will you trust my judgment?"

I was silent. He went on. "Look, I… we wouldn't put you in this position if we thought you weren't capable. And if you do 'lose it' or whatever, it's fine. I'll accept full responsibility for whatever happens. This was mostly my idea, anyway. I'll be the one to blame. I'll even lie and say you weren't even with him at the time, if you want. Everything will be my fault. Just a bit of advice though, before you go: Try to be patient with him. Besides his other… ah… issues, Blackout is…" He paused there and took the same side-to-side glance. He dropped his voice a few more decibels, forcing me to strain to hear. "…Well, he's a little bit like me. He can't build anything to save his life," he muttered.

I still didn't say anything. I was still thinking of the lies he had been spoon-feeding us, and the reason that must've been behind them.

"And Grid?" Leader-1 asked, getting my attention back. His tone and face told me he was going to say something pretty serious. I waited. "No matter what you might think," he said, "No matter what might have happened out there or what might happen in here. No matter what it seems like the world is trying to tell you. Always remember this: You are the only thing that can really defeat you. You are your own harshest judge. Right now, there is a voice is your head that is telling you, 'You can't,' and that voice is yours and only yours. Do you understand?"

I stared. Leader-1 was the last person I expected this from. His words sounded pretty, sure, and encouraging, but to be honest, I didn't really think much of them. Everything he was saying seemed like the usual dumbly optimistic drivel that people threw at you hastily to get you to stop crying. It was just like Sparkplug's earlier speech: meaningless.

Though I was thinking all this, I wasn't stupid enough to express my doubts out loud. I just nodded slowly, like I understood perfectly.

At my apparent agreement, Leader-1 straightened, as if this talk hadn't even taken place. "Good," he said, clearly satisfied. He wasn't whispering anymore; his voice rang across the hall, quite magnified. "Well, you've lost a lot of time. I suggest that you and Blackout start working immediately." With that, he turned and walked briskly away, leaving me standing there, totally confused.

My head was churning with everything that had just happened. I tried to replay it all in my head. Leader-1 was hiding something; that was completely obvious. But what exactly? Now that wasn't so obvious. It had something to do with the reason he was still here when he so clearly wasn't supposed to be. What was that reason? I had a pretty good feeling he wouldn't tell me. I also had a pretty good feeling that I was being a snoop, and that it really didn't concern me one way or another. But I couldn't get Leader-1's furious and anguished look out of my mind. Let's see… I thought to myself, It might relate to that Minicon Village. He was the leader there. What was its number again? Oh, yeah. D10. That's probably it; it seems like a sore spot for him. Sore enough for Inferno to taunt him about it. What could've happened there? Inferno said it was attacked by Decepticons…

I was so absorbed in all this that I didn't receive any sign that someone was coming up behind me… that is, until I detected a voice right beside my right audio receptor saying, "What was all that about?" in an unnecessarily loud voice.

I jumped. Blackout was standing right next to me, holding a bundle of construction supplies. His head was cocked to one side, and his question was loaded with the innocent curiosity of a toddler. Or… not so innocent.

I scowled again, but I had been too lost in thought to get really mad at him. When you're deep inside your own head, and someone tries to pull you out like that, you only come out halfway, it seems.

When the anger failed to show up, concern and worry took its place. Oh, frag, how long had Blackout been standing there? How much had he heard? What Leader-1 had said to me definitely didn't strike me as something I wanted to share with Blackout. I paused for a second or two, then said, "Oh, that? It's nothing. Just… boring stuff." Okay, not brilliant. But what the pit was I supposed to say? "Sorry, but I can't tell you"? Get real.

Blackout wasn't fooled. "It didn't seem like boring stuff," he accused. His optic swiveled over to me. "When people mutter like that, it's never boring. People might announce something interesting, but they never whisper about something that isn't." He continued to gaze shrewdly at me. "You weren't talking about me, were you?"

I felt relieved. So Blackout hadn't heard anything. Good. "Yeah," I sighed, "You got us. We were."

Blackout laughed. "Knew it," he said proudly. He did that thing where he nods rapidly in agreement with himself. "Talking about what an crack shot I am, were you?" he asked, a grin in his voice.

The look I gave him was my attempt to turn the sentence, You're crazy, into a facial expression. I think it worked, seeing as Blackout totally ignored me, and that's what he usually does when I tell him he's an idiot.

He shrugged. "Well, whatever." Then he brightened. His mood swings were difficult to keep up with sometimes. "Come on, let's get started," he said. As he spoke, the pile of supplies he was carrying clattered to the floor. I stepped back to avoid bouncing debris, looking down on him with horror.

If Blackout knew he just did something wrong, he didn't show it. "I think they're almost done welding," he announced, totally oblivious to my expression. He bent down and picked something up out of the pile. "I got torches," he chirped proudly, holding one up.

I glanced up at the torch in his hand. "…Blackout," I told him, "You're holding that upside down."

Now… that? That sentence up there? That one sentence pretty much holds the essence of what the entire workday was like.

You might be saying, Oh, get over yourself. What could he have done that was so terrible? A better, more thought provoking question would be, what didn't he do? Dropping things, aiming the torch the wrong way, knocking me over with various blunt objects; I think we actually did more damage to the ship than made progress finishing it. It certainly wasn't helping, nor was it redeeming Blackout's image in my eyes, that he always tried to fix his mistakes afterwards, with disastrous results. The single good thing I could say about working with Blackout is that he never blamed any of his screw-ups on me. He always knew that whatever had gone wrong that time had been his fault, and he always seemed honestly repentant about everything he did. If I had taken a drink every time he chirped, "Oops, my bad," I would've been unconscious by the end of the day.

It eventually got to the point where I gave up and started to go door-to-door, asking other people if I could maybe work with them. Only problem is, Blackout would always follow eagerly behind wherever I went, and this did not help sell my service at all. The general reaction with every pair we talked to was pretty much the same. The two workers would look at me, then at Blackout, then at back at me, then back at Blackout, then at each other, then back at me, then shake their heads no. Every pair always looked slightly frightened and never moved at all before shaking their heads. They just did this uncertain side-to-side thing with their eyes. It was all very creepy, to be perfectly honest. In the end, we didn't have any takers (We skipped Prowl and Inferno, for obvious reasons.), so decided to pack up our supplies and turn in early. Mysteriously, Leader-1 was completely absent, so there was no one to prevent us from just leaving, and we snuck out without encountering any problems at all.

The other good thing about today was that I actually managed to not kill Blackout. I'm serious; I didn't hit him once! (I did snap at him a couple times, but that's to be expected.) I was very proud of myself. See, I came up with a tactic to vent my frustration in less destructive ways. It was inspired by one of the nightmares I'd had two nights ago. Every time I felt like I couldn't take it anymore, I lit a torch and held it right under my right hand. Not so that the flame was touching me, not so close that I burnt my hand or melted my armor, just close enough for me to feel the extreme heat. This way, I was able to vent my angst and remind myself, forcefully, that Blackout looked up to me, but more importantly, that Leader-1 felt I could control myself. It was Leader-1 that I was really struggling for. His defeated expression was the main reason I tried so hard to suck it in and try to bear it.

After everyone else had stopped working, we all filed into the auditorium once again in order to hear whatever announcements the officers had in store for us this time. Today's commentator was none other than Sparkplug, who announced, in a somewhat unnerved voice that was trying its hardest to remain steady, that one of the supply rooms, the one with the oil dispensing machine, had been trashed, and no one had been able to find out who did it. Obviously, that made us all kind of nervous, not to mention angry. It had taken time and guts to gather those supplies, and now some punk was trying to ruin it for us. Fortunately, Sparkplug assured us that nothing essential had been damaged, and that the things that had been were not beyond all hope of repair, with the exception of a few barrels of oil. (Many sighs of relief.) On that note, the room was still being cleaned up, and those unfortunate enough to have not received their ration today would just have to wait until tomorrow. (Much groaning, particularly from me. I had been busy with Blackout all day and hadn't had the time or energy to get my ration.) After that, Sparkplug wished us a quick good luck, and we all filed to our sleeping quarters, our postures already starting to show the indifference of routine.

I noticed that Sparkplug didn't make any mention of Leader-1 skipping out on the raid. Then again, it was sort of a delicate topic to bring up, especially in front of a crowd.

The next day, we once again lined up outside the hangar, waiting for our partner assignments. As I drove to the room, I had the distinct feeling that there was a huge unspoken question mark hovering above everyone's heads, and I knew why, because we were all wondering the same thing: Would Leader-1 still be there today? Reason said yes; the raid always lasted two days, so he couldn't really join it halfway through. Nevertheless, there was a definite hush of surprise and interest when, once again, Leader-1 was standing in front of us, brandishing his list and looking at us with his usual critical gaze. Remembering the scene that had unfolded yesterday, nobody dared to say a word while Leader-1 spoke. No doubt, they were imagining huge holes being drilled through their middles. This arrangement seemed just fine for Leader-1, who read everyone's name with a sort of do-any-more-of-you-have-a-clever-comment kind of tone. It was pretty obvious that he didn't want any slag from anyone today. He didn't comment on anything, though, which was probably the wiser thing to do. The only allusion he made to yesterday's events was that he practically spat Inferno's name, as if it was a really vulgar swear word.

Mercifully, he threw me a small bit of relief for my pain and suffering. Instead of pairing me alone with Blackout like he did yesterday, Leader-1 made my life much easier by putting us in a group of three with a Minicon by the name of Ironhide. To my surprise, I wasn't the one who was happiest with this arrangement. Blackout was actually the most thrilled, as Ironhide turned out to be a very tough-looking, but attractive, femme.

So that's where I was now, helping Ironhide weld a particularly large piece of sheet metal onto the huge frame, while Blackout sat on the floor and chattered incessantly to the both of us. Him not doing anything seemed to annoy Ironhide, but I, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with it. You might have noticed earlier, but Blackout can be pretty destructive when he's trying to "help." This setup was definitely preferable.

Anyway, Blackout had been in the middle of ranting about some… person or another that, from what I could tell, had received a very brutal chewing out by Grindor to go back to his Decepticon partner and give him the slip, as he had instructed, before he finally gave in, when he suddenly piped up, "Hey Ironhide, could you go get me a barrel of oil?"

I swept my head over my shoulder and gave him a look. "Blackout, you're not supposed to ask a girl to go get stuff for you!" I scolded.

Unfortunately, this didn't sit well with Ironhide. "Why the slag not!?" she snapped. Then she kicked me in the shin. Hard. I gasped and fell over, clutching my leg. I landed pretty close to Blackout, and maybe I imagined it, but I could've sworn I heard him whisper, "Man, that's hot."

Ironhide closed her eyes for a minute, as if trying to calm herself. Then, totally ignoring me, she turned to Blackout. "Sorry, but Grid's technically right. I'm not allowed to get barrels of oil for you. You have to get it yourself. Grindor's orders," she explained haughtily. She had one of those don't-mess-with-me voices that automatically makes you wince when you hear it. It suited her.

I was indignant. "If I'm so right," I snapped at her, "then what the pit did you kick me for?" She ignored this.

"Oh, come on. Please?" pleaded Blackout, imitating a child's voice. "Look, if anyone catches you, I'll just tell them it was my idea, okay?"

"Sorry, but the answer's still no," Ironhide said coldly. "Why don't you just get it yourself? Seeing as you haven't done anything else, today." This last sentence had a significant amount of bitterness sprinkled over it.

"I keep telling you," I muttered, still lying on the floor, "It's better this way. You definitely don't want Blackout working on this thing." I was thinking it was about time for Ironhide to acknowledge my existence, for a change. Unfortunately, she didn't spare me a passing glance.

Neither did Blackout. For once, his attention was totally fixed on someone else. Someone who wasn't me. "Well, yeah," he admitted in response to her question. "But it's so far away, and I'm so lazy."

Ironhide's blue optics seared. "Are you making fun of me?" she demanded.

"Yes," said Blackout honestly. "But don't take it personally, Ironhide. I make fun of everybody!"

"Doesn't my lying on the floor in pain, I don't know, bother anyone?" I finally snapped out of frustration.

They both finally, finally, glanced down at me. Blackout looked surprised then amused. Ironhide just snorted. "Oh, don't be such a drama queen," she said, arms folded. "I didn't kick you that hard. It didn't even leave a mark."

Taken aback slightly, I looked down. Sure enough, there was no mark. Not only that, but my leg had stopped throbbing, long ago. I sat up, feeling pretty stupid. "Well…" I started sheepishly. "…It still hurt."

Now they both looked amused. Ironhide actually cracked a smile. Blackout laughed. "Gosh, Gridsy," he mock-scolded, "Don't be such a whiner."

That got both Ironhide and I going. "You were whining just now!" we both snapped at different times.

"Yeah, but I'm thirsty," protested Blackout, like this was a perfect excuse. He pretended to cringe in fear, but I saw a familiar impish gleam in his optic.

"Oh, for Primus' sake!" I snapped before Ironhide got a chance. "Look, if you're that really that thirsty, then I'll go get your ration for you!" I stood up and walked over to Blackout, cursing mentally.

"You're a lifesaver, Gridsy," sighed Blackout, holding out his ration card.

I took his card and stowed it in my chest compartment in a defeated kind of way, like a soldier heading for his execution. "Yeah, well," I grumbled, "I need a break, anyway. Anything to get away from you two."

I was about to drive off when I noticed the expression in Ironhide's eyes. She seemed oddly concerned. Suspicious. "Uh," she started, looking at Blackout. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

I stopped and stared at her, stung by this. For a little while there, I had foolishly thought that we had gotten past these… these suspicions and accusations. With the single exception of Inferno, I thought that maybe everyone had gotten used to the idea that I had once been a thief and were starting to trust me. That single sentence from Ironhide had been a real eye-opener for me. An eye-opener to something ugly. I don't think she realized just how much that one sentence had wounded me. I just kept staring, lost and hurt.

It was Blackout who came to my rescue. "Pshaw," he scoffed, making the same sound he had used on me two nights ago. "Don't be so paranoid. I trust Gridsy, and Leader-1 seems to trust him, too. That's enough for me."

I looked away from Ironhide, moved. There was a feeling forming in my spark. It was vaguely warm… and embarrassing. "Thanks," I muttered, meeting no one's eyes, unsure of what to say.

I heard a thunk that indicated Blackout had flopped over in a recline on the floor. "Besides," he said, "if Gridsy tries anything funny, I'll know who's got my card." He said that last part quiet cheerfully and sounding very pleased with himself.

The warm bubble in me popped with such force it was more like an explosion. "I'm going now!" I snapped, stomping away. As a last minute precaution, I turned back to Ironhide, who had stopped looking at me and was now glaring at Blackout. I indicated to her that I wanted to say something. She looked up expectantly. When I was sure I had her complete attention, I whispered in the confidential tone I picked up from Leader-1: "Try not to hit him."

Ironhide rolled her eyes and looked back at Blackout, contentedly laying on the floor, his hands folded behind his head. Her expression was something close to disgust. She leaned her head towards me and whispered back, "No promises."

I figured that was the most I could hope for from Ironhide, so I transformed and drove away, dodging people's legs as I went. I tried to hurry. After all, the sooner I got back, the shorter the opportunity Ironhide had to completely lose it on Blackout. Not that that takes long.

Before I go on, let me say a few words about the layout of the place. Currently, if you remember, we were in the left hall of the main complex. The hangar containing the still unnamed ship was behind a door that led into a plain white room that could be accessed by going through another door around halfway down the hall on the right side. (Have I lost you yet?) That hangar was my starting point. Further up the hall, closer to where it opened to the auditorium, was another door, which was unlabeled. This door was always locked, and no one knew for sure what was behind it. It was reported that, late at night, voices could be heard coming through it, but these voices were always muffled and unrecognizable. During my stay here, several theories would arise about the nature of this room, most of them concerning ghosts, but no one would ever figure it out for sure.

In the opposite direction, leading away from the entrance, there were several more doors. There was one very prominent one at the very end of the hall; that was the main storage room, where we would go to get our rations. On the left wall, between this door and the door to the hangar, there were two rooms. The one closest to the corner was an extra storage room. The one farther down was a sort of lounge. At least, that's what I think it was. Nobody ever went in there except for the officers, but they usually left the door open. Surely anyone could use it or at least go up and stand beside it. I mean, if it was really terribly private, then surely they would've put a up a lock or at least shut the fragging door.

So, now that you know where I was going and where everything was placed, hopefully you'll understand that I didn't walk down there intending to eavesdrop. My curiosity just got the better of me. You understand, don't you? Don't you?

Okay, so you don't. But, you're curious. Just like I was. So, I'll tell you what I overheard.

After I'd put as much distance possible between me and what I knew to be a possible crime scene, I slowed down and drove casually into the main storage room. The door was an automatic one, and it slid out of and back into place when I walked through.

I could see what Sparkplug had said last night was true. The storage room really had been trashed. Several of the building supplies for the ship were thrown around the room randomly. Some of the larger barrels of oil were missing from their usual stacks; they had been crushed and punctured and were now laying in shattered fragments on the floor, instead. The oil had all been mopped up, but the room still reeked of the stuff. There was a trail of black ash on the floor, implying that someone spilled the barrels and then lit fire to the contents.

Most distressing of all was the state of the ration-dispenser-thing. Giant, warped holes ruptured the surface of the normally undamaged machine, creating a violent and almost disturbing effect. It looked as though someone had actually tried to claw it apart with their bare servos.

I stared at the machine and he wreckage, shocked. Whatever Sparkplug had said, the damage didn't look minimal to me. It looked as though somebody had serious issues. I tried to fathom who might've done this. My mind immediately jumped to Inferno, thinking that only someone with his lovely disposition would've even considered this. Then I realized, almost disappointed, that he had no motive. And even if he did, surely Prowl would've said something if Inferno had snuck away? Unless Inferno threatened him, but Prowl hadn't really struck me as much of a coward.

With my primary suspect gone, I was completely lost. Just as I was trying to come up with another face, I spotted something on the far wall. It was another burn mark, but the shape of it was odd. As if in a trance, I walked over to the mark and placed my hand over it. I traced my finger down its surface, leaving a white, chalky mark in the black. That mark… it was no random scar from a wildly spilled fire. It was in a sort of ring, with splayed out lines coming off of it like rays. It looked strange, almost like… like a flower of ash…

I shook myself out of it and walked back toward the machine. I didn't want to take too long getting the oil. Ironhide was already suspicious. Difficult as she was being, I definitely didn't need any reason for her to think I was up to something.

I inserted my ration card into the dispenser and watched as it spit it back out along with a small barrel of oil. Despite the machine's external damage, it seemed to be working fine. After that was done, I took a hasty double take to make sure no one was watching (what I was doing was against the rules, after all) and inserted Blackout's card, too. It did the same thing. I put both cards and both barrels into my chest compartment and started quickly for the door. With both barrels of oil inside me, I was way too bloated to transform without crushing the contents. I really doubt you've ever had this happen to you, so let me spare you the gross details by saying that having containers of liquid breaking inside you and having said liquid gush out of the cracks and crevices in your body is not a pleasant experience. Trust me. So, I had to slowly walk out of the room and back to the hangar.

Let me once again point out that what is about to take place is not my fault. If I had been able to transform, I probably would've zoomed by without catching any of their voices. Or if they had had the sense to shut the slagging door, I wouldn't have been able to listen in on their conversation. But neither of these things happened, so the thing that I probably shouldn't have overheard?... Well, you get the idea by now.

I was walking by, wondering if Blackout was still alive, when I heard this coming from my right:

"Leader-1, I think you know why we've called you down here."

And, after a moment's pause, this response: "I suppose I do. But, for clarity's sake, pretend I don't. Why am I here, Sureshock?"

I stopped, staring wide-eyed in the direction of the sound. It was coming form the always-open door, which, at this second, happened to be right in front of me. I knew I should've kept walking. I knew this was none of my business.

But I was curious.

So very curious.

I inched closer to the door, flattening myself against the wall. My, er, unusual training helped my footsteps stay completely silent, quite a feat for our kind. The whole time I was moving, there was this voice screaming at me in the back of my head, saying things like, What the slag do you think you're doing!? Go back, you idiot! Go back! I ignored it. I had a pretty good idea what was about to be discussed in there, and I also knew that I'd never again get a decent night's sleep if I passed up this opportunity.

The second voice that I'd heard coming from the lounge was definitely Leader-1's, there was no mistaking it. The first voice was unfamiliar, but I knew it had to be Sureshock, High Wire's other lackey. I continued forward until I was right next to the open door. Praying to anyone who would listen that no one would walk down the hall and see me here, I turned my head to peek into the room.

And this is what happened:

Author's Notes:

Right after this word from our sponsor!

Sorry this took so long you guys. I thought summer would mean lots of free time, but it turns out I was sadly mistaken. My parents seem to be on away-from-home overdrive this year. Not even a week after school ended, we set sail on a cruise through Alaska. If I said I didn't have a blast, then I'd be a ridiculously shameless liar. It was a lot of fun, but I only got to work on this fanfic once, while the rest of my family took a well earned, very comfortable-looking nap.

Around five days after we returned, I had to leave home again. This time I was going to a summer school type program at a college (I won't say where). It has all the fun of college, meaning dorms, no parents, two subjects a day, but with a few drawbacks. A curfew, not being allowed to leave campus, and enforced study hours are just some of these. The food, being dorm food, is absolutely terrible. Thank goodness for the box of snacks my mom sent me and the on-campus Chik-fil-a, or I'd starve.

Anyway, I'm using my free time to work on this thing. (Actually, by the time you read this, I'll probably be home again.) I hope you guys like this chapter, even though nothing especially exciting happens. (Again?) When I was thinking up this story in my head, I always imagined Grid to confront Inferno in the storage room, but that somehow ended up not happening. It just seemed random and unnecessary to me. Sorry, Inferno fans. (Does Inferno have fans? Or does everyone hate him?... Or does nobody care? I hope it's not that last one. That would make me sad.)

Oh, and before I forget, Armada Ironhide really is a girl. Seriously. Granted, this is in no way the same character as Energon Ironhide, whom I hate. They just happen to have the same name is all.

More stuff happens in the next chapter. Wait eagerly in anticipation! Later!