Bonjour, my lovely readers! How are you? I hope you're having a bitchin' day. If not, I hope this update brightens your day a bit :) The weather where I live has been horrifying and cold, with loads of snow unfolding its wrath upon us, so I hope you guys are warmer than I am, haha ! Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Don't forget to leave a review and favourite!

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Mirage, please." Laceburner sang, smiling persuasively towards the red spy.

"Really, Lace?" the red spy asked, rolling his eyes as he rubbed his hands together.

"Please." she begged, drawing out the plea.

He huffed, rolling his eyes again, but she hoped that she at least made him smile yet she couldn't tell from how he sat. Maybe that was just wishful thinking

"Come on, Mirage, man just do it." Hot Rod said to his friend with a chuckled.

Laceburner smiled excitedly to the bot that was standing behind Mirage as he was getting ready to use the weight bench. All Laceburner had asked was for Mirage to try bench-pressing her instead. She was pretty sure she was small enough for him to be able to lift her, but he kept just rolling his eyes at the request and ignoring it, as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had heard. Even Cliffjumper couldn't figure out why he wasn't accepting her request, it was the most innocent request Laceburner could have made in that moment

"Dino, just do it once and she'll be so happy." Arcee waved off.

"Holy slag guys, stop. Laceburner, no!" he snapped.

She flinched ever so slightly at the tone and base in his voice, then looked down at the ground - she had pushed it and now he was mad at her.

"Sorry."

Arcee shot him a dirty look, and Hot Rod and Cliffjumper looked at their friend confusedly. The spy simply huffed, looking over his shoulder quickly. "You ready?"

Hot Rod looked over at Cliffjumper one last time, before nodding. "Yeah, let's do it."

Arcee rubbed up and down her arm to try and comfort her. "Sorry for him. Something must have happened earlier to spoil his mood."

She nodded, even though she knew Arcee was wrong; he'd been in a bad mood all day. He had even snapped at Laceburner multiple times already today, and there was even a hole in his bedroom wall that he needed to fix that would prove his anger and frustation. She'd asked what was wrong, but he simply waved her off then declared he was going to work out. Hot Rod decided that was a good idea, Cliffjumper followed, then Arcee asked her if she and Flare Up wanted to go with them. Flare Up declined, having to go to work, but Laceburner decided to go with her. Mirage's attitude didn't seem to be dying down, however, and his mood was spoiling everybody else's too.

"If ya want, Lacey, I'll do it with ya next time I work out." Cliffjumper offered.

"Do what?"

Arcee yelped as she jumped, spinning around to hit whoever it was that walked in and scared her right in their chest. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded through the workout room as Arcee's hand came in contact with Sunstreaker's chest, causing a mark over the perfectly polished paint.

"Primus damn it, Sunstreaker, you scared the slag outta me." she yelled, placing her hand over her chest as she panted.

"My paint." he grumbled from behind clenched teeth.

"You'll do what?" Sideswipe pressed on.

"Lacey wanted Dino to use her for his bench press, but he kept sayin' no, so I told her I'd do it with her instead next time I come in here." Cliffjumper shrugged. "No big deal."

"I'll do it if you want, I'm about to start." Sunstreaker offered.

Everybody looked at him funny, even Mirage stopped what he was doing to look at him while Arcee shot him a dirty glare. Laceburner's eyes, however, lit up.

"Really?"

Rather than answering, he walked over towards the benches opposite of where they currently were standing and tilted his head in her direction, motioning her to follow. "C'mon."

Her smile got wide as she bounded after the golden twin, Sideswipe behind her.

Arcee clenched her fists angrily, turning to look back at Hot Rod. He looked at her, obviously annoyed as well. Most of them were - after what they did to Mythic, and their reasoning behind it, it was clear that majority of their little click was extremely annoyed with them.

"I swear, I am two seconds away from glueing them to the ceiling."

"Want help?" Hot Rod offered to his small, pink, femme friend.

"You know it- Mirage, you okay?"

The red spy, rather than answering, directed all his attention to glaring across the room, where Laceburner had followed the twins. She squealed suddenly, pulling everybody's attention back that way as Sideswipe picked her up by her sides and spun her in a circle, causing her laughs to echo around the room until he placed her back down on the ground. Now dizzy, she stumbled a small bit, but he steadied her as his twin laid down on the bench.

Sideswipe said something to her, to which she smiled widely and nodded, and Sunstreaker braced his arms upwards. Sideswipe continued on speaking to her, obviously instructions that she followed as she walked closer, turning so her back was facing Sunstreaker. She suddenly lifted herself on to her tippy toes, and Sideswipe placed a hand on her back as she began leaning backwards to help keep her from falling. Sunstreaker grabbed the bottom of her back in one hand, then placed the other on the top of her back as her feet left the floor. Sideswipe said something as he let go, before Sunstreaker lowered her down almost to his chest, then back up. The smile on her face grew an inordinate amount and she squealed again, this time in excitement.

Now pissed, the spy got up suddenly, stepped over the bench, stormed passed Cliffjumper, and left the room with an angry look on his face. The second Arcee told him what had happened between Mythic and the twins, she could see it all clicking together in his mind. Once the puzzle had been put together and made sense in his head, he'd immediately gotten mad; it was clear that his anger still hadn't dissipated. Somewhat, she felt bad for telling him.

"I'll go check him, make sure he's okay." Hot Rod said, before jogging out of the room, after his best friend.

Arcee looked at Cliffjumper and exchanged a look with him, before her gaze moved back to the twins and Laceburner.

She was smiling and giggling, her hands covering her face, but from where Sunstreaker was laying, he could see the curve of her smile, and a small little smirk crossed Sunstreaker's own faceplates at how happy she was over something he'd been able to do since he was a little kid.

She squealed a little, covering her face with her hands and giggling, kicking her feet a little. He could feel how happy Sideswipe was from his end of the bond, and he could practically envision the red slaghead's smile on his face right now. He pushed her into the air one last time before lowering her all the way down to his chest, and tilting her feet towards the ground. She laughed as she stood on her own, and whether he'd ever admit it out loud or not, the look of happiness on her face was the only reward he needed. But the reward he got was pretty great too. When he stood up to go retrieve more of the weight plates he needed, her arms suddenly enveloped him and she buried her face into his chest.

"Thanks." was the only part of what she said that he heard. With a smile, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, wrapping her in a hug that lifting her off the ground, and higher up. He heard her giggling in his audios, and almost - almost - smiled. She was so tiny that he could wrap his arms around her and still almost touch his elbows.

Her feet kicked up a little as she laughed, then he placed her back down on the ground. "S'that good?" he asked.

She gave him a wide, open mouthed smile as she nodded vigourously, but she didn't let him go for another five seconds or so. When she did, she beamed at him so hard that her eyes had to squint - though he didn't see that part - and her visor change to a shade or two lighter.

"Do you want help carrying anything?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the weight plates.

He chuckled. "I'm alright, but thanks."

"You can stay and watch if you wanna, Lacey." Sideswipe smiled.

"Autobot Laceburner, report to bay thirty-six for alternative vehicular assesment, Autobot Laceburner to bay thirty-six, thank you." voiced over the PA.

"Or not." Sunstreaker said.

She shrugged. "It's fine, I'll see you later guys."

Sideswipe watched as she raised herself on to her tippy toes, placing her hand over his abs to steady herself as she placed her lips over his cheek delicately.

"Thank you." she whispered into his audio finn. She dropped back down, flat footed, threw another large smile in Sideswipe's direction, then transformed down and headed towards the doors and off to Bay 36 with a rev of her engine.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Laceburner?"

With a smile, she looked over at the source of the voice as she walked through the door of her apartment, kicking it shut with her foot once inside, her arms and hands filled with fully packed bags.

"Hey handsome." she winked. "You mind?" she asked, lifting the bags slightly.

He nodded, grabbing a few of the bags. "Course." Then placed a quick kiss on her lips.

"How was work." she asked, walking into the kitchen with him following.

"Oh, you know... work like. How's your family?" he asked, placing the bags he was carrying on the counter.

She smiled, pulling a cube of energon from a bag that she had placed on the counter, opening the cooler. "Good. Dad's a little stressed, Mom's helping him a lot. Oh, where's...?"

She looked around the kitchen, before jogging over to the end of the stairs, stopping in front of them. She whistled loudly up the stairs, then headed back into the kitchen. She pulled another bag up onto the counter from the floor, and pulled out a small, white CD case from inside it, handing it over to the mech beside her.

He looked at confusedly, taking it into his hands. "What's...?"

"Open it and find out." she smiled.

With furrowed brows, he opened the case. Upon realizing what it was, his eyes went wide. "No way!"

She smiled before he grabbed her in a hug, laughing happily.

"What's goin'on?"

He put her down, his attention remaining solely on the CD case in his hands, but once freed from his grip she turned her attention to the new bot in the room with a soft smile. "I got you something too."

He furrowed his brow. "Why?"

She shrugged, grabbing the previous bag she had been unpacking. "Why not?"

She reached in and pulled out a silver can with a small, wire handle, and handed it to him.

"Paint?" he asked. "Uh, thanks."

She chuckled. "Open it."

He opened the can carefully with furrowed brows, looking at the gold liquid substance inside, then looked back up at her seriously. "How did you get this?"

She shrugged. "Vee and I got dispatched, and there was a paint store next door. He said what was left was his last cans for the next little while, so I got you the last three." she smiled, gesturing to the bag at her feet.

He analyzed the bag from where he stood, then smiled and walked over, slipping an arm around her waist, and pulled her closer. With a giggle, she wrapped one arm around his neck, and the other slid around his waist and stopped on the curve of his spine, then leaned up on her tip toes and kissed him, laughing halfway through.

"I love you."

She smirked. "Love you too."

Before she could even let him go, she was pulled away from him, red arms sweeping her up.

"You're the fraggin' best, babe."

She smiled widely up at him too, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I know." she winked.

Has he always been this ugly?

She laughed to herself. He's not ugly, he's one of the best looking mechs you'll ever see.

The voice snorted. Then I need better vision.

She laughed again, but this time after she blinked, he disappeared. She stepped back in shock, a look of extreme shock casting over her face.

"What's wrong?" the golden mech asked.

She turned around quickly, looking for him. "Sideswipe?" and when she turned back around, his twin was gone too. "Sunstreaker?"

What the...?

"Guys? Where are you?"

Then, the voice stopped and she stood there by herself for about thirty silent seconds before everything went black.

Her eyes opened back up and landed on the wall opposit of her, blank of anything except the wall of the house. Furrowing her brow, she turned in a 360 as she scanned her surroundings and not finding either Sideswipe, nor Sunstreaker.

"Guys!" she yelled, but after she blinked the room turned into a long corridor with a single door at the end, and very little lighting to support it for her.

Watch out.

Yet, whenever she walked towards the door, it got farther and farther from her, even when she full out sprinted. Then suddenly, she tripped over nothing, falling to the floor and the scene around her disappeared.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

She was being stared at. By who or for what, she didn't know, but she did know that she was being stared at intensly. Whoever it was, whatever they wanted, the hadn't said a single word yet, but she knew they were there. Their breaths weren't heavy per se, but you could definitely hear them loud and clear. Every once in a while there would be a whir, the sound of them either crossing or un-crossing their arms, and every forty three seconds they would shift weight from one foot to the other, which could be heard with a clicking sound, what she deduced was their right hip suspension and weight distibutor rubbing together slightly before clicking back into place.

Predictability of others is to our advantage.

Still, she kept her mouth shut. After the dream she'd had last, she wasn't in the mood to deal with anybody right now. Maybe, just maybe, if she kept quiet, they'd leave.

But that was just wishful thinking.

"Are we just gonna keep pretending that I'm not here and that you can't hear me?"

She clenched her jaw, grateful that Prowl wasn't in the room. "Yep. Seems like that's exactly what we're gonna do."

He scoffed - he felt like he had the right to scoff at her - and she heard him enter the room, closing the door behind himself. He placed a data pad beside her key pad, on the pile of the others, then sat on the couch with a sigh, and she maintained her focus solely on the computer screen, electing to ignore him.

Punch him out.

"We have to talk about it sometime."

She shook her hea. "No we don't."

"La-"

"There's nothing to talk about." she cut him off. "You want nothing to do with me anymore. Feeling's starting to be mutual." she cut him off.

He rubbed his face. "It's just... you hurt me, Lace."

How the frag did we hurt you? We haven't done anything to you.

"Yeah? Doing what?"

Just kick him.

"You know what." he chastised.

"No, I don't!" she yelled suddenly, turning to glare at him. "Mirage, I have no fucking clue what I did to you!"

That's my girl.

He sat, shocked for a little while, before speaking, "Wait, you actually don't know?"

Rolling her eyes, she turned back to her computer. "Get out. Leave me alone. Now."

He seemed confused at first, a little offended - but not nearly as much as she was when he ignored her and yelled at her to leave him alone, how dare she do that to him, he never wanted to see her again - before standing up and heading to the door. She heard him open the door, and just as it did his engine revved angrily.

"What are you doing here?" he spat, and for a second she thought he was talking to her.

"We're working, now get out of my way." a rough voice grumbled.

She heard more footsteps before she heard Mirage's growling engine disappear down the hallway.

"What do you want?" she asked, her eyes staying on the computer screen.

A stack of data pads was placed down beside her. "You always this busy at work?"

She shook her head, noting how Sideswipe decided to take a seat on the couch.

Ugh, why them?

"No, but if I finish what I'm doing right now I'll be finished my workload for the rest of the week and I can go take a nap."

Sunstreaker looked at her weird, "Nap?"

She nodded, humming a yes, and Sideswipe laughed.

"Why do you need a nap?" the red twin chuckled.

"Because I'm working on two hours of sleep in the last six days." she responded, not wavering her attention from the screen, but she definitely felt how the mood changed.

"Two hours?" Sideswipe asked.

No, we lied for the fun of it.

Again, she hummed a yes.

"How have you not malfunctioned yet?" Sunstreaker asked.

She shrugged. "Used to it. Work's busy right now. If I finish this right now I probably get the rest of the week off."

Neither twin said anything for a long second, so she continued. "What are these?"

They were quiet for a second, but it was Sunstreaker's voice that reached her ears. "They're the debriefing files that were required for the last scouting. Bumblebee and Bluestreak said they'll have theirs in tomorrow around ten for Prowl, but apparently you're in charge of a certain part of the troops or something like that."

She nodded. "It's alphabetical now, so yeah, I handle everything involved with you two."

Sideswipe nodded. "Cool. Guess we'll be seein' more of ya now." he finished with a wink.

She allowed her eyes to float over to him, and he watched her take him in, her eyes moving over his entire face before a smile graced her face, long and wide, and she chuckled. "Guess we will. Can you shut the door after yourselves once you leave please."

Smile still ever present on her face, she turned to her computer screen and continued working.

"What, I can't take a nap with you?" he pouted, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers from his left hand with his right.

Ew.

She blushed, shrugging. "I-I guess. I mean i-if you really want to I ca-an't stop you."

He smirked at her, though she didn't see it, and pushed himself up off the couch. Rather than saying anything, he got up and moved to stand behind her, then bent down and placed a kiss to her cheek very quickly. The way she tensed up didn't pass over his head.

"Enjoy your nap and your time off. You deserve it."

Then he turned and left beside his twin, and they closed the door behind them.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Laceburner didn't really expect to find Sideswipe sitting on her couch when she entered her room, waiting for her to show up. When the door opened and she stopped in her tracks at the sight of him, he looked over the back of the couch and a smile grew on his face when he saw her.

"Um... hi." she smiled, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, you ready for that nap?" he smiled, standing up.

She studied for a second, then laughed. "I was planning on a shower first."

His smile grew, and turned a little perverted. "You need help with that too?"

She blushed heavily, then walked past him and towards the shower. "I think I can do it. Thanks though. I'll be right out."

The shower was quick and hot, but it was better than taking a nap while feeling grimy and gross. When she came back out, Sideswipe was reading one of the data pads she had on the coffee table. Her eyes went wide upon realizing which one he was reading. When he heard her exit he turned to look at her, holding the data pad in his hands.

"Why did you open that?"

He didn't respond, just looked down at the data pad, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"What did you read?" she asked, casting her eyes to the floor.

He paused, failing to say anything for a long ten seconds, "You have a voice in your head?"

Son of a bitch!

She gulped. "Yes."

"Where does it come from?"

She sighed. "She."

"What?" he asked.

"It's a she. A female voice."

He sighed. "Then where does she come from?"

"I don't know. She's been there since I woke up after the twins found me."

He sighed. "So, it's like... your conscience?"

She shook her head. "No. My conscience is different. She's more like there's someone stuck inside my head that can't get out. She give me advice, jokes, insults me alot too, stuff like that."

"And Ratchet doesn't know how to get rid of it?"

I'm not an it. the voice snarled angrily at her, and she flinched.

He noticed it. "Wait, is it talking right now?"

She! it yelled at her.

"She." Laceburner echoed quietly.

"Whatever it is! Is she?" he asked.

Laceburner nodded.

He didn't say anything again for another ten seconds, and after that the subject changed.

"Is that really what you thought we thought about you?" he asked again.

She shrugged. "Mythic showed up and you guys stopped talking to me althogether. I figured I'd done something to make you guys hate me. It's a fairly sensible assumption on my part, all things given."

He failed to say anything else after that, and when it came to a minute of neither bot saying anything, she turned and headed to her bed. "If you're gonna leave, close the door behind you. And turn the lights off please." she said, snuggling under the blanket and pulling it all the way up to her chin. She figured if he was gonna blab about the voice in her head, nothing she could say would stop him.

She was genuinely surprise when the lights shut off, along with the TV, but the door didn't make a sound. Rather, he slid under the blankets beside her, siddling up against her back. He tangled his feet with hers, an arm moving to rest over her side and pull her closer.

It didn't take her long to fall asleep beside him, their breathing in sync.