Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Lizzie: Hey, does anyone know why Authoress is acting all funny?

Paul: Not sure.

Authoress: I smell funny. Anyone want to go play with sidewalk chalk?

Ch. 21: The Bet

This was different then most of the dreams that I had experienced before. I was in a Cybertronian sized ballroom. Who did I know that it was Cybertronian sized? Well, it might be for the fact that the dance floor that I was looking down on was filled with dancing Cybertronians performing some sort of waltz. It was quite gorgeous to watch and it was hard for me to take my eyes off of them. But, the dream had other ideas and I soon found myself walking down a set of stairs. They were the kind that you usually saw in fairy tales that were straight but really long. As I approached the bottom, I was surprised to see that I was the same height as the Cybertronians on the floor. That shouldn't be right. When I tried to look at myself, though, I couldn't see anything, like I was invisible to myself.

"May I have this dance?"

I turned to see Knockout standing there in all of his perfection holding a servo out to me. Okay, frag if this was a dream, I nodded. "Yes." I knew that I was smiling, even if I couldn't see myself. I did not want to wake up from this.

As Knockout and I danced, I noticed that most of the bots in there were bots that I knew. I could see Optimus and Arcee, Jazz and Prowl, and Bumblebee and Landmine were dancing as well as a few of the others. But, there were some that I could not identify. A strange jet mech was dancing with Megatron, a tank femme was dancing with Wheeljack, and a car mech that looked almost exactly like Knockout was dancing with Soundwave.

"Hey Knockout, who are they?" I asked him.

He turned to where I was pointing and looked like he was about to answer when the room went dark, the music stopped and with it, the dancing, as well as the air growing extremely cold. The room then shook around us as the roof was ripped off by sharp digits and I found myself staring at a set of purple optics that were filled with hatred. A deep laughter filled the air and I found myself shivering. That voice was scaring me. When I went to draw closer to Knockout for comfort, though, I found that he was not there.

"You have lost femme. Your comrades have fallen and now you will be alone as I crush you. You allowed them to sacrifice themselves in vain. They will all fall and you will perish." The being then paused. "Now; meet your demise!" It then started to bring its gigantic servo down toward me. I screamed.

"NO!"

I shot up out of my bed, sweat dropping down my face as I took in my surroundings. I was in my room. I as okay. Nothing was wrong.

"Lizzie are you okay?" Paul asked as he stormed into my room and knelt down by my bed.

I hesitated. "I...think so. Just a really bad dream."

Paul sighed and sat on my bed next to me before pulling me into a hug. "Hey, it's over now. You're safe." He then paused. "Do you remember what it was about?"

I tried to remember but I only got clips. "I remember a dance and then something interrupting the dance. Nothing else." I then sighed. "Wish I could remember these fragging things. They could be extremely important."

Paul let a laugh out before saying, "Hey, you can't help it and we will just have to let fate take over from here." He then got up. "Now, hop in the shower. It is already very late in the day."

Glancing to the window, I groaned as I saw that it was bright out. When I glanced at the clock next to my bed though, I was relieved. "It's only nine thirty Paul. I have definitely slept in later before." But, I didn't argue as I got up and went to shower. Once I finished with that, I got ready for the day before heading downstairs, led by the wonderful smell of breakfast.

"Today's menu consists of sausage and scrambled eggs that are covered in cheese." Paul announced as he set my plate in front of me.

A smile spread across my face as the aroma of the food filled my nose. "So, you call Cliff yet to tell him to come get us?" I asked before I took my first bite.

Paul nodded. "Yeah. He'll be here in about five minutes so eat quickly."

It was then that I noticed that Paul had already eaten. Oh well. I snarfed my food down in about three minutes before saying, "All done. Now, let's go outside and wait for Cliffjumper. I want to do some tinkering with my paintball guns when we get to base and the faster we get there the better."

Primus raised and eyebrow at me. "What sort of modifications are you talking about?"

I knew he wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything too drastic with the upgrades. So, as we walked out of the door, I said, "I am going to exchange the paint in the balls with pepper spray so if I am ever in a situation like with Starscream a couple days ago I can have a weapon to fire that will give me time to get away. Plus, I plan on extending the distance and speed that the balls fire so they will be a more effective weapon."

A nod was the response I got from Paul as we walked up to Cliffjumper, who had just pulled up, before he said, "Not a bad idea. I'll even help you out with that. Who knows, I might need to borrow that if you aren't around to save me from them."

"What are you two talking about?" Cliffjumper asked as we got in.

As he drove, I said, "Just about some modifications I am going to make so I will be more protected if I end up in the field with you all again."

"What sort of modifications?" Was the immediate question.

"For protection." I sighed. "Do you two have secret meetings where you discuss me?" Cliff and Paul sounded way too much alike for their own good.

I could feel Cliffjumper laugh before he said, "If we told you, we'd have to kill you."

I shook my head and said, "Well, you will have to get in line behind Starscream."

What I was not expecting was Cliffjumper's growl at that. "When I get my servos on him he is going to wish that he was never sparked."

I patted Cliffjumper's steering wheel before saying, "Hey, calm down Cliffjumper. I don't think that we are going to be seeing 'Scream for quite some time." And I was right. If everything went right, I wouldn't have to even hear his name again until we were looking for the Decepticon space bridge so we could go to Cybertron.

That seemed to calm Cliffjumper down though. "Well, he just better watch his back. I am going to make sure that he never hurts you again."

Honestly, as much as I hated to doubt Cliffjumper, I did. Starscream was a slippery son of a glitch and that meant that he was going to find some way to get to me. But, I had to let Cliffjumper know that he had made me feel a little better so I smiled. "Thanks Cliff. Now, let's get to base so I can work on these modifications."

The rest of the ride was silent as we approached the base. Once we got inside and stopped in the main room, I hopped out and saw that Raf was the only human here. Today was Saturday so I had expected the others to be here. "Hey Raf, where are Miko and Jack?" I asked as Paul and I got up next to him.

"Jack had work and Miko said something about her host parents having her stay home to improve her grades." Raf answered.

I laughed at that. "Don't think Miko is going to be doing much homework." I said before I sat down and took my paintball guns out of my bag. "Hey Raf, want to help me make some modifications to this?"

He nodded excitedly. "Sure."

Paul, Raf, and I then set off to work on my paintball guns. I had three guns in total. Two of them were a medium in length and the third was a small handgun one that was for emergency. Since I didn't want Raf messing with the pepper spray just in case he got some in his eyes, I had him working on increasing the range and firepower of the guns with Paul while I worked on exchanging the pain in the balls with pepper spray. It took the three of us about two hours to finish the upgrades but, once we were done, I was happy. Filling the paint balls with the pepper spray had taken the longest but I now had over a thousand rounds of pepper spray filled paint balls to use. It was so worth it.

"Thanks for the help guys. This should cover us for quite some time." I smiled when they nodded.

"No problem Lizzie. It was a lot of fun to be able to help." Raf commented.

Paul just nodded and I knew that he was saying that he didn't mind. Of course he didn't mind. This was going to help keep me safe in case of an emergency. We didn't want a repeat of the robot chicken incident.

Raf's attention, I noticed, was drawn to Ratchet as said bot was messing with his sample of synthetic energon. Well, the unfinished product.

"Hm, surprisingly stable." Ratchet muttered to himself.

"Hey Ratchet, is that synthetic energon?" Raf asked.

Ratchet, seemingly surprised that someone wanted to know, nodded. "Well, yes. In fact, I am preparing to test a sample. I see that you come equipped with protective goggles." Well, only Paul and I had protective goggles on. Raf just had his glasses on but I wasn't ruining my favorite human's fun.

"I can watch?" Raf asked.

Ratchet chuckled a bit. "We just add some to this test engine." He then added the synthetic energon to the engine and we all waited in silence, hoping that the engine would work.

A smile crept onto my face as the engine came to life. "It worked." I hummed to myself.

"'Bee," Raf started to call.

But Ratchet stopped him. "This iteration of the formula requires further trial before we can even think about using it for fuel, ammunition, or first aid." He then paused. "Which is rather unfortunate since our own energon reserves are at an all time low. Our severely outnumbered warriors have been rapidly burning through our stockpile of late as the Decepticon army continues to run us ragged and grind us down. Natural energon is in such short supply on your planet and Megatron seems to have his oily claws buried deep in all the Earth's deposits." Again, he paused. "But, if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we will ever need."

I shivered at that. Megatron was scary enough and now I pictured his claws reaching down, ready to snatch anything they wanted off of the ground. I shivered again.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and a green light started flashing before the others came into the room.

"More energon on the move." Cliffjumper commented.

"Again." Bulkhead groaned.

The signal and its movements then popped onto the screen before Optimus said, "Their recent activity suggests that the familiar pattern. The Decepticons are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine." He then started his most annoying phrase. "Autobots,"

Ratchet, though, interrupted him. I never thought that I was going to kiss his pedes for stopping Optimus. "Optimus, if one of you gets wounded this time, well, our energon reserves are nearly depleted." I could feel the gravity of the situation as it pounded into Ratchet. It made me understand, being here in the flesh, how much pressure was on the Autobots and I completely understood why Ratchet snapped.

"Understood. Activate the ground bridge." Optimus said. "Autobots, roll out!"

I banged my head against the railing when he said that. Frag it all to the Pit why did he have to say that? It was fragging annoying. Maybe that was another reason why I liked the 'Cons. They didn't abuse sayings like it was their job to.

Once the others left through the bridge, I heard Ratchet sigh. "Sometimes, I wish I could do more."

When his optics widened with a look of epiphany, I walked up to my bike and started to polish it. I was not going to watch as Ratchet injected himself with the synthetic energon. When I started to polish, I noticed another set of hands next to mine.

"I couldn't watch either." Paul said as he helped me polish my bike.

I nodded. "Self harm is always something that bothered me. I can never understand why you would want to inflict any pain on yourself. Of course, Ratchet isn't doing this to harm himself intentionally but I also don't like needles and I will never see why someone would want to put in themselves. It is a chore for the people at the hospital to put one in me. Pretty sure I whipped most of them to top physical condition."

Paul chuckled at that. "It is sad that I can actually imagine you throwing big burly men around when they show you a needle." He then paused. "How is Knockout your favorite if you don't like needles and you don't like hospitals?"

I shook my head. "Well, Knockout isn't boring and serious. Plus, it is not called 'hospital'. It is called his med bay. Med bay sounds so much more exciting than hospital."

"You are impossible." Paul muttered.

I laughed and was about to say something when a loud bang behind us caught my attention. "Whelp, he sure knows how to fall."

That earned me an elbow in the side from the god next to me.

"Ratchet, are you okay?" Raf asked as he ran up to Ratchet.

I just stood there and watched. Hopefully, he wouldn't take too long to wake up so we could get this episode done and over with. "You ready to see Knockout?"

My feet left the ground for a good three seconds after Paul suddenly asked that out of the blue. "What are you talking about? There is no way that I would be able to see him." I felt kinda defensive because I still felt bad for stopping Knockout the other night by yelling at him. I knew that I was stuck between a rock in a hard place when I did but that didn't mean that I didn't feel bad.

Paul's snort of disbelief caught my attention pretty quickly. "Sure you aren't just hiding from said red medic because you had to yell at him yesterday? He would probably talk to you if you saw him today."

The echo of a bet could be heard in that last statement and I was never one to back down from this kind of challenge. "I am not just hiding from him. He probably wouldn't talk to me if he saw me today."

"So, you want to bet on that?" Paul asked. I could hear the enticing nature in his words.

While I knew that it was very risky to bet with a god, I knew that there was no way that I could lose. "Sure. If he sees me today and doesn't talk to me, then you have to come to base in tight sweats, oversized sneakers, a oversized plain white t-shirt, your hair a mess, and you have to act as irresponsible as Miko."

Primus seemed to hesitate at that for a second and I thought that I had discouraged him out of doing the bet. I really didn't want to go but I didn't like refusing bets even more. "Deal." Frag it. Hopefully, his conditions wouldn't be too, "If he sees you and he does talk to you, you have to come to base dressed in a formal gown, high heels, makeup on, hair done, and you have to dance to a waltz."

Tears were flowing on the inside as he listed off each of the things that I would have to do if I lost. There were many reasons that I did not go to a single dance after high school freshman homecoming. Frag, I didn't even go to prom. One of the reasons why was because I didn't like to wear dresses and heels. Another of the reasons was because I didn't like to do my makeup and hair. It was always a bother. The only thing that actually sounded nice in his bet was the waltz. I hated modern 'dancing', if you could call it that, and dancing a waltz with a god sounded like a lot of fun. But, I kept a straight face as I extended my hand toward Paul with a smirk on my face. "Deal." Gosh I really hope this didn't come back to bite me.

Ratchet's groan drew me away from my deal making with Paul. "Ugh, how is it that such small beings can be so loud?"

"Gifted." I smirked.

"Are you hurt? You fell." Raf asked. I loved how much concern Raf had for Ratchet.

He shook his helm, ignoring me, and stood up. "I'm fine. I'm...more than fine." He sounded shocked at that before he checked his wrist monitoring system. "Energy efficiency is up thirty percent. Motor functions optimal?" He then let out a laugh. I guess the ill effects of the energon hadn't quite taken their effect on him. But, that laughter was short lived as he looked down at us. "Any word from the others?"

"None." Paul answered him.

He sighed and seemed about to go and sit down when Optimus voice filled the air. "Ratchet. Lock onto Arcee's coordinates and prepare and emergency ground bridge."

We then watched as Ratchet walked up to the ground bridge controls. "I'm locked on." Ratchet answered the big bot before he turned his attention to Arcee. "Arcee, decelerate and prepare to return to base."

"Save it Ratchet, I'm too close." Was Arcee's answer.

"Don't be a fool!" Ratchet shot back. We then waited for a response from Arcee but all that came through the line was Arcee's engine. Well, that was until we heard the sound of rocket fire, presumably from the drones on Arcee's tailpipe.

"She's hurt." Ratchet stated when we heard the sound of her yell of pain and the screech of metal. He then turned to us. "Man the ground bridge." The three of us nodded and watched as Ratchet drove through the bridge.

"So, you guys think they are okay?" Raf asked us nervously.

I nodded. "Yeah, they are going to be okay." For now. Ratchet wouldn't be so great later. Especially after his little talk with Megatron.

When the bots called back in for a bridge, Paul activated the bridge before the three of us walked over to the railing.

"What happened?" I questioned them as they walked out.

"I only saw the gory aftermath but I hear the doc was a one bot wrecking machine." Bulkhead commented.

It was then that I realized that I was the closest to the edge of the platform. "Oh frag." I muttered before Ratchet scooped me up.

"Hey little lady." Ratchet randomly said to me before tossing me lightly in the air and catching me before setting me back down on the platform.

I was growling at him and it took Paul's hand on the side of my arm to remind me that I could not freak out on him and I just had to act surprised. Fragging medic. Of course, he was juiced up on the synthetic energon and that meant that he was not acting like himself. Still, I was not a little lady. I was actually quite tall compared to some girls.

"Alright doc. What's the big secret?" Cliffjumper asked him. I could see the quick worried glance that he shot toward me but I just waved it off. I was fine, if not a bit crept out.

"No secret." Ratchet started as he picked up the synthetic energon. I shivered at the stuff. "Just a little something I like to call," He then tossed them a vial. "Synth-En."

"From the data Bulkhead transcribed?" Arcee asked. "I thought the formula was,"

"Incomplete?" Ratchet interrupted. That was the first time that they should have realized that something was wrong. How many times in this show did Ratchet interrupt someone with actual words? "Not anymore."

Bumblebee then beeped a few things, wished I could understand them, before Bulkhead said, "So Ratchet makes a better tough guy than I do a smart guy?"

I nodded but there was more behind my nod. Everything that happened with Bulkhead's situation was happening in its own way to Ratchet. The results seemed promising at first but, as time went on, Ratchet would start to lose himself just like Bulkhead had started to forget things that he knew. It had almost cost Bulkhead his memories and it was going to almost cost Ratchet his spark. Hopefully, this would go like the show and we would not have to worry about that.

"Ratchet, I question the wisdom of using yourself as a test subject." Optimus let us all know his thoughts. And, in a rare moment, I was one hundred percent with him on this one. He was right to be wary of this all.

But, that didn't mean the others were quite so bright. "Optimus, you didn't see Ratchet out there. He was in overdrive. We should all try this stuff."

I felt Paul nudge me and I looked at him. "If the bots try to use this stuff, I give you permission to shoot them with your new paint balls until we hide the synthetic energon and lock it up where they won't be able to find it."

Nodding, I said, "No kidding. I can't imagine Optimus or Bulkhead on this crap. We would be screwed." I then reached into the side of my backpack and brought out one of the guns, acting like I was bored and checking it. But, I wanted to be ready.

"Or give Ratchet more so we can all have a vacation." Cliffjumper added with a smile.

Optimus, of course, answered very politically. "I agree that the initial results seem promising. But I recommend that further testing be confined to machines; not Autobots." He then paused. "Outnumbered though we may be, old friend, we need a warrior in the laboratory right now more than we need another in the field."

In my head, I was Optimus' personal cheering section. There was no way I would show it out loud though. Primus would never let me forget it if I did. But, as I looked to Ratchet, I saw that he had a reluctant look in his optics. Of course, that was the effects of the addiction on him.

We all then went our separate ways. Well, Paul and I stayed and sat on the couch while the others went off to recuperate and train. I didn't want to watch Ratchet loose himself. He was usually a level headed bot and I didn't like it when he did this. "Hey Paul, um, what happens if Ratchet actually beats Megatron?" I realized that, since there could be things that changed, Megatron might end up defeated by Ratchet this time around.

Paul sighed. "If that happens, then I want you to use your pepper spray balls and shoot his optics out to either give Megatron time to recover or give time for his troops to send in more backup. Ratchet has to get that synthetic energon out of his systems if we are to progress on. Can you imagine a synth-en Ratchet trying to help Raf?"

I shook my head as a strange mental image of that situation popped into my head. It would end very badly and Ratchet might end up squishing nurse Darby. I know I would have if I was on synth-en and in his position. "It's a weird mental image Paul. I'll make sure I sneak with. I really don't want to let that happen. Plus, I have to win that bet and that means that I have to be there anyways."

Paul smirked at that. "We shall see Lizzie. First you have to sneak in with Ratchet in the first place. Plus, you have to make sure that your motion sickness doesn't give you up. I know that you can't handle some turns and, as you saw in the show from Miko, motion sickness is bound to happen."

I groaned. "I know Paul." We then heard a loud crash. "Well, I guess it is almost time for us to get this party moving."

"Just be careful. Please." Paul sounded really worried when he said that.

"I will Paul." I said with a hug to him before I stood up and got ready. Hopefully, the episode would change to give me the chance to get inside of Ratchet before they left. Grabbing my helmet, I hid in an outcrop to wait. I would need the helmet just in case I needed to talk to Paul.

When the alarms went off, I braced myself. I had to be ready for this. This timing had to be perfect if I had any hope of going with Ratchet. Gosh I felt so irresponsible right now.

"Looks like the 'Cons hit another vein." Arcee reported to Optimus.

Optimus nodded. "Autobots, roll out."

Bulkhead walked up to Optimus. "Hey, hey, shouldn't we wait for our secret weapon?" I hated thinking of Ratchet as a secret weapon but, to the 'Cons, that's what he was to the Autobots. A weapon that they have kept a secret. Oh what they don't know.

"This mission is unlikely to require medical expertise." Optimus answered, underlying that he didn't want Ratchet in the field right now in the capacity of a warrior.

But, Ratchet chose then to make himself known. "But you never know if it may require additional firepower." I had to face palm myself when I got a mental image of Knockout where Ratchet was standing because of how Ratchet was standing. It was weird.

"Bumblebee can handle ground bridge duty." Ratchet continued with a wave of his hand. But, instead of going to the front of the line like he did in the show, he transformed in the back before saying. "Time to put some hurt on those Decepticons."

Everyone just stared at him in shock for a few seconds before they transformed. This was my chance. So, avoiding the fronts of the bots, I crept around to the back of Ratchet's alt mode before hopping in and making myself at home. Gosh, it was actually quite clean in here. Cleaner than I thought it would be.

I didn't even realize we were rolling until Ratchet lurched forward and I almost fell against his door. Thankfully, I balanced myself before that could happen. When we got through the bridge, I had a slight panic attack. I had no idea how Ratchet would transform on the inside and I might end up squished. Paul and I really had to plan these things out better.

But, I sighed in relief when Ratchet transformed and I did not end up a pile of mush. Even better, I could see out of his front so I would know what was going on. But, as I moved, I realized that, somehow, his inside was soundproofed so I could not hear anything unless Ratchet hit it. Great. This was going to be fun.

When Ratchet started to do all of those fancy jumps to get down the hill, I thought that I was going to hurl. How did Miko survive this? And to think that Ratchet was more graceful than Bulkhead. She must have a stomach of iron now.

When we finally stopped, I looked out of Ratchet and saw that the drones were still mining. That was good. That meant that things seemed to be going normally. After a few minutes, Ratchet started to move again and jumped. It was a miracle that I could keep my stomach together as he transformed into vehicle mode in mid air before barreling down the side of the hill. Did this ride come with barf bags?

"Oh, the stomach." I quietly moaned to myself as Ratchet dodged the blasts that were fired at him. If I made it out of here alive, I was never going to do this again if I could help it. Plus, I would give Miko a medal for being able to survive this multiple times.

Again, my stomach lurched when Ratchet transformed and slammed into a drone. I would have felt sorry for the drone if the feeling of getting sick wasn't looming. Gosh this was a test of will right here. I must have had more willpower than I thought I did. His fighting was just making this worse. Oh, this had better be worth it in the end.

Ratchet climbing up the wall barely registered with me. The only reason I knew that he was was because I could only see moving cliff in front of me. That meant that he was climbing up it to stop the miner. But, since I really didn't want to see that, I found a comfortable spot and laid down before closing my eyes. Hey, I could at least get some sleep since I couldn't hear anything. So, I closed my eyes.

What woke me was a bright green light. When I looked out of Ratchet, I saw that we were in the ground bridge. That could only mean one thing.

"Frag." I muttered to myself as Ratchet turned on a dime and charged at Bulkhead. When he threw the big lug and transformed, I was wishing that I could go back to sleep. But, I needed to stay awake so I could get out of this death trap that was Ratchet once we reached the cave. Surprisingly, the drive wasn't that long and, once we were far enough away from the entrance that I couldn't see light, I went to his back doors and cracked them open before falling out. While the ground was hard, I was relieved that it was solid and not moving.

"Hey Paul, I'm out of Ratchet and in the mine." I reported through my helmet.

"Good job Lizzie. I see that you are sneakier than we though. I might have to keep a closer eye on you." Paul retorted with a laugh as I walked forward.

I shook my head. "Don't waste your time. I couldn't tell you how many times I almost got sick. Plus, Ratchet's cabin must have been soundproofed because I couldn't hear a thing." I really was never doing that again. No matter how desperate the situation.

"Um, actually, his cabin isn't soundproofed. I thought you might not want to hear all that Ratchet had to say so I pulled some strings and temporarily soundproofed your helmet." Paul explained.

I was extremely grateful. "Thanks for that Paul. I actually got a nap in while he was interrogating the drone. It was very nice." When I approached the end of the tunnel I was currently walking in, I paused. "Hang on Paul. I think I'm next to the cavern with Megatron and Knockout in it." I whispered.

I then peeked around the corner and, sure enough, Megatron and Knockout were there. But, from the angle I was at, I saw that I was on the opposite side of the cavern that Ratchet entered at. That was a good thing. "Okay Paul, I'm next to it." I whispered.

"Good, now just sit and wait. If things start to go south for Megatron." Paul started.

I sighed. "I know. Shoot Ratchet in the optics." I wasn't thrilled to have to do that. Hopefully, the episode stayed in synch with the show. When Breakdown stumbled into the room, I knew that Paul had to shut up. "Hey, Breakdown just showed up. Got to let you go." I said before I shut off the communicator.

I was just in time to hear Megatron say, "This is your fearsome new adversary?" Megatron then let out a couple of chuckles. "He's Optimus Prime's medic."

Ratchet, of course, was ready with a comeback. "Oh no Megatron. I am your doctor of doom." I then jumped as Ratchet charged at Megatron and slammed him in the faceplates, throwing the leader against the cavern wall. Poor Knockout looked like he wasn't sure whether to stay or run.

Of course, Megatron was not so easily defeated. "Alright then." Megatron stated as he stood up. I shivered at the look in his optics. They were ten times scarier than they were in the show, and I thought that they were scary then.

I face palmed as Ratchet charged again and let out a battle call. "For Cybertron." Of course, 'Cybertron' ended with a gag of pain as Megatron simply grabbed Ratchet's servo before twisting it, causing Ratchet a lot of pain.

"Ratchet is rather more spirited than I recollect." Megatron commented to Knockout as he held Ratchet's servo painfully twisted. He sounded like he was doing nothing but having a conversation with Ratchet as he said that. It caused me to shiver again.

"Chemical enhancement perhaps?" Knockout hit it right on the money. Well, if you counted synthetic energon as chemical enhancement.

I winced when Megatron slammed his fist into Ratchet's side. It sounded like it hurt a lot. It almost made me feel sorry for Ratchet. But, the doctor had made this choice on his own and now he had to pay the consequences.

Megatron then tossed Ratchet to the ground before walking toward the hallway Ratchet came in while saying, "There's your laboratory sample, doctor. Find out. If a chemical could do this for Optimus Prime's lapdog," He then chuckled. "imagine what it could do for our troops."

Uh, you don't want to know Megatron. Imagine having an entire army full of Starscream like bots except for the fact that they are stronger than Starscream. You do not ant these effects on this bots.

"Doctor to doctor," Knockout's voice drew my attention back to them. "I must say, your contribution to the Decepticon cause is very much appreciated." I am surprised that I hadn't fainted in joy yet. Why was Knockout so gorgeous?

"I'll be sure to boast of your accomplishment when you're gone." Knockout continued. "Which will happen in three, two, one,"

But, before the gorgeous red car could finish the job, and force me to stop him, the sound of blaster fire stopped him and caused us all to look away. What? I was a curious person.

Ratchet, of course, took advantage of that and shoved Knockout off. The two then fought and I really zoned out their words. Well, maybe zoned out wasn't the correct term. A more appropriate thing to say would be I was too distracted by Knockout to really pay attention to their words.

I did pay attention, though, once Ratchet threw the vial at the wall by Knockout and broke it. Knockout did not look too happy.

"You idiot! Megatron will have my head!" Knockout yelled out. I would be scared of Megatron's reaction as well.

But, when Knockout drove toward me, I knew I had to let him see me to make sure that the bet with Paul and all of this stress and work had been worth it. So, I stepped out of hiding as Knockout came down the section of the cave I was in. When he drove past, I started to do a victory dance in my head. I couldn't wait to see Paul in sweats.

The sound of screeching tires as they braked though, stopped that dance.

Before I could register what was happening, Knockout pulled up next to me and opened his door before seat belts grabbed me, pulled me in, and threw me in the passenger seat.

"What the frag!" I yelled as he started to race off.

"You owe me an explanation." Knockout stated as he rounded a corner.

I knew what he meant. "Like I said in the text, my boss said I had to and if I didn't listen to him, then I wouldn't be able to race you anymore because he owns the car and he would take the car if I didn't listen." Yeah, I was blaming Paul. But the fragger had already won the bet. He could take on for the team.

It was quiet in the car for the longest time. "I guess that is excusable. But did you have to yell?"

I shrugged. "It was either yelling at you or shooting at you with my paintball gun. I thought I did the better of the two."

"You did." That response was quick. "So, I guess I can forgive you. Though explaining it was not fun to Megatron, he didn't actually physically punish me for failing."

I was relieved. I had been afraid that Knockout had been physically punished. "Well, I still owe you." I then paused. "Though, you kind of already somewhat got me back for it."

"How?" Knockout asked as he took yet another turn.

I sighed. "Well...Paul and I had a little bet going on...which is the reason I am even here today. He bet that you would talk to me after I yelled at you the other day and I bet that you wouldn't. I thought you would be too mad at me to talk to me."

Knockout's soliform suddenly appeared and looked at me. "So, what would happen when you won?" The smirk on his face was beautiful.

Again, I sighed. "Well, if I won, Paul would have to come to base in tight sweats, oversized sneakers, a oversized plain white t-shirt, his hair a mess, and he would have to act as irresponsible as Miko, the other girl with the Autobots."

"And if Paul won?" I could hear the anticipation in his voice and the only reason that I didn't hit him for it was because he was so gorgeous.

"I have to come to base dressed in a formal gown, high heels, makeup on, hair done, and I have to dance to a waltz. The waltz is the only good part about this. I am dreading everything else." I begrudgingly answered. I was not looking forward to this.

Knockout must have thought that it was hilarious because the cabin was suddenly vibrating with his laughter. "Oh, you must send me a picture and I will count you as completely made up for the other day."

Crying on the inside, I nodded. "Fine." I then looked around. "Um Knockout, I have to get back to the bots unfortunately. Can you,"

"Already heading to their location. Though, I am going to be throwing you out and yelling at you." His soliform then smirked. "Don't take it personal." Then, his soliform flashed out.

"What fun." I groaned. This was going to hurt. Like I hadn't been through enough with robot chicken.

As we entered the main hall and I saw the Autobots, I braced myself. When he turned and his door flew open, I yelped as I was thrown out. "And don't scratch my interior again you stupid fleshy!" Knockout yelled as he peeled out of there. Good thing he warned me to not take it personal because I really felt like taking it personal.

"Lizzie?"

I glanced up from where I was laying at the sound of Bulkhead's voice and saw that they were all standing there next to Ratchet's unconscious body, which they must have already carried there, and must have been waiting for a bridge. "I was worried about Ratchet so I hitched a ride." I explained with my most innocent smile. "Plus, Knockout didn't hurt me, except for these few scrapes from throwing me out of his car."

Cliffjumper groaned. "How did I get stuck with the trouble magnet?"

"Trade you." Bulkhead stated.

Cliffjumper laughed. "No thanks Bulkhead. At least Lizzie usually doesn't try to put herself in trouble. She just seems to draw it toward her." He then turned to Arcee. "But, if you are willing to trade 'Cee."

"No thanks Cliff." Arcee answered with a smile. "I think you are the only one who could handle Lizzie."

I smiled at that. Making their lives crazy was hard work and I was glad that they thought that Cliffjumper was the only one who could handle me. Of course, he really couldn't but I let them believe that. Oh the plans that I had.

When the ground bridge activated, Bulkhead and Optimus carried Ratchet through while Cliffjumper bent down and picked me up. Once we were through the bridge, Cliffjumper set me down next to Paul, who helped me down, before he walked off.

"You okay?" Paul asked in worry.

I nodded. "Yeah, just a few scrapes. Nothing serious." I was hoping that he forgot about the bet. I really didn't want to,

"So, did Knockout talk to you?" Paul asked in a whisper.

Frag it he remembered. Nodding, I said, "Yes. He kidnapped me temporarily and talked to me." I then paused. "Oh, and he wants a picture of me in the dress."

Paul let out a laugh. "Told you. Now, let's relax. You've had a trying day."

I nodded and walked over to the couch and, after Paul and I sat down, I laid down so my head was on Paul's lap. I was so tired that I was out as soon as I closed my eyes.

Lizzie: Holy frag.

Paul: You know Lizzie, I agree. This is a holy frag moment.

Authoress: What? Just because I got over 7000 words in this chapter?

Lizzie and Paul: Yes!

Authoress: Well, I needed to make up for the long wait between the last chapter and the one before it.

AN: I hope you all liked this. I wanted to get this done last night for you all but I had a little...accident. I was bleaching the walls and ceiling in my parent's bathroom and I forgot to get some air circulation going. Well, I ended up getting slightly sick due to the fumes and couldn't focus on typing this afterwords. So, here it is! Next chapter is going to have some twists in it...and I am not just talking about the dancing. I'll have links on the next chapter so you can see how I picture Lizzie's dress and hair and stuff. Until next time, please drop by and say hi! XD