Chapter Nine: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

BOOM!

The audio-shattering sound reverberated around the hangar, causing the hangar's three inhabitants to come out of recharge with a start.

Bumblebee peered out the small window, jumping back as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. Rain was falling from the sky in buckets, if the sound of the hangar roof was anything to go by. Bolt winced against the metallic pinging sound.

"Slag it, I hate this planet's ecosystem!" Barricade snarled.

Bolt and Bumblebee shared a look. "Are you sure that you're not just bitter that you fishtailed during the last rainstorm?" Bumblebee smirked.

Barricade's snarl was the only answer they needed.

"Thought so," Bumblebee snickered.

Barricade opted to ignore his childish bonded in favor of studying Bolt. "Hey, are you ok?" Barricade asked his tan bonded concernedly.

Bolt seemed to jolt back to life. "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine."

Barricade and Bumblebee shared a frown. Bolt was clearly not fine, not by a long shot. Thunder boomed again, but Bolt simply looked out the window.

"Come on," Bumblebee stood up, offering a hand to Bolt and another to Barricade. "Let's go get some energon."

Bolt allowed himself to be hoisted upright, while Barricade simply stood up himself. Subtly, Bumblebee and Barricade flanked Bolt in a protective and comforting formation. Bolt noticed however, and allowed a small smile to grace his face.

The three exited their hangar, making their way through the hallway and into the mess hall. Prowl was also there. The SIC spared them a glance before going back to his energon.

Bumblebee headed over to the energon dispenser while the other two of the trio sat down at the table. "I'm amazed you're out here," Barricade commented.

Prowl frowned. "I blame the twins."

Bumblebee raised an optic ridge as he sat down and distributed the energon cubes. "Why? What'd they do?"

"Nothing short of shoving me off myberth!"

All three bonded shared a laugh at Prowl's expense. "Didn't you do that to me once?" Bolt suddenly asked Barricade.

Barricade smirked and nodded. "Yep!"

"Then you chased 'Cade around for like an hour, shooting at him periodically," Bumblebee interjected with a laugh.

"Hit me once, too!"

By now all four mechs at the table were laughing. Bolt had forgotten all about his previous foul mood, as did his bonded.

"What are you all laughing about?" Optimus asked, coming to stand next to the table.

"Nothing, sir," Prowl shook his head with a smile.

"Hm..." Optimus decided to let it drop, sitting down with his own energon cube.

Silence reigned supreme for a while as everyone drank their energon. Bolt finished his cube, leaning back in his chair slightly.

Thunder boomed outside, nearly shaking the building. Bolt sighed in annoyance. "I seriously hope that the increased thunder means-" BOOM! "-That the storm is going to end soon."

Prowl snickered. "Knowing this planet? Unlikely."

Bolt nodded once in agreement, before falling silent. Bumblebee side glanced him when Bolt offlined his optics. "Bolt?" the scout spoke.

"I'm watching some anime," Bolt explained.

"Ah."

Prowl stood up, leaving the now silent table. The way he held his doorwings gave the impression that he was about to punish the twins for his rude awakening. "Good luck!" Barricade called out.

Prowl glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, before he left the room.

"Is it me, or is Prowl not as uptight as he usually is?" Bumblebee mused out loud.

Optimus let out a booming laugh. "I think the twins have something to do with that... as usual!"

"Eh, at least he's not tossing us into the brig," Barricade waved a hand in dismissal.

Bolt laughed. "True, true."

Optimus pushed his chair out and stood up with a sigh. "Reports," he said simply, leaving the room.

The trio sat there in comfortable silence. Bolt went back to his anime, Barricade decided to play a slaughter the stick figure game and Bumblebee listened to Earth music.

BOOM!

All three snapped their heads towards the sound. "That wasn't thunder..." Bolt muttered.

Barricade shook his head 'no' in agreement. "Should we investigate?"

"TWINS!"

"No need," Bumblebee deadpanned.

A silver and a gold blur shot by the room. A shot of plasma followed them, then a black blur. "Gee, do you think Ironhide's pissed?" Barricade asked sarcastically.

Bolt simply rolled his optics slightly. He was starting to sober, starting to become... depressed again. It was almost like a mood swing, it happened so fast.

Bolt turned back to facing forward and went back to his anime, missing the concerned looks his bonded shot in his direction.

Optimus sat in his office, slowly filling out the reports. It was for the human government; basically how much supplies the Autobots had used that month. Optimus was incredibly, undeniably, bored.

/Sir!/ Prowl's excited voice came over Optimus' comm link.

Optimus set the datapad he was holding down. /Prowl? What is it?/

/Teletraan One(*) is picking up an incoming signal!/

Optimus' optics widened. /Who is it?/

There was silence on Prowl's end. Optimus grew more and more anxious as each second ticked by. /Ah-ha!/ Prowl cried triumphantly. /It's Arcee, Chromia and Elita One!/

Optimus thought his spark was going to stop from excitement. /ETA?/

Prowl chuckled. /This time tomorrow in Fresno, California./

/I'll go tell the others!/ Optimus didn't even try and hide his glee.

/Roger, sir. Prowl out./

The comm link call was dropped. Optimus stood up, a wide smile on his face. He looked out the window, seeing the broken cloud cover. "That's so cliché," Optimus frowned.

The trio were the first ones Optimus found, seeing as they were still in the same spots. "Guys!" Optimus shouted. All three of them jumped, turning to face Optimus with (un)concealed annoyance.

"Optimus, what is it?" Bumblebee asked.

Optimus grinned. "Arcee, Chromia and Elita One are coming!"

"Alright!" Bumblebee grinned, happy about more Autobots.

Bolt and Barricade shared a disinterested look. "Cool," Barricade shrugged.

Optimus boggled at the two mechs who had gone back to what they were doing. "Don't look at me!" Bumblebee cried as Optimus did just that.

Optimus suddenly realized that this might not go as smoothly as he thought.

(*) Teletraan One is the Autobot ship's intelligent computer from G1.