A/N: so, this is the first of two chapters I've tentatively dubbed intermission chapters. Mainly because they weren't really driven by Mattie - more like some of my favorite by-characters wanted a chance to shine :) This may well be one of my favorite chapters, so I hope you like!

This is also the chapter that made me feel like I had to bump up the rating to M... Last bit is somewhat NSFW.

And oh, if some of you dislike same-sex romance - I'd warn you, but I really just think you should get with the times already.

The second intermission chapter is smallish, so I'll probably publish it this weekend.

Enjoy!


Intermission 1: Thaddeus and Jared, and the powers of "please"


The evening Quinn was let out of the brig again, Ryan found him standing behind Hangar 3, smoking and trying to kick a piece of turf to within an inch of its life. For a while, Ryan just stood there, looking at the other soldier.

"What do you want, Ryan?" Quinn grumbled.

"Ah came to see if you were okay," Ryan replied.

Quinn stopped kicking and looked at him. "Heh. That's rich, coming to see if I'm okay. Shouldn't you be more worried about your bot-loving friend?"

He shook his head. "I've talked to Mattie. She's got people around her, she's fine. You're alone."

The kicking resumed. Suddenly the turf clot broke off and flew into the dark.

Quinn drew a deep, shaky breath. "Go back, Ryan. I don't need your help."

"No."

"No?" Quinn sneered. "Go the hell back, idiot."

Ryan shook his head. "No. Somethin's up with you, and Ah want to know what."

Quinn snorted. "Like you care."

"Ah know this ain't you. You can be a bit of a dickhead, but you've never been cruel before. And Mattie's done nothin' to you."

Quinn walked up to the hangar and slumped down on the ground with his back to the wall. He pulled deeply on his cigarette. "Yeah, well, life's a bitch."

Ryan walked over and sat down next to him. "What's botherin' you?"

Quinn grinned, shaking his head. Are those… tears?

"Jared… Please. You're not yourself."

"This is the US Army. There's no room for being oneself here." He grinned that desperate grin again, eyes still shining with tears.

Ryan looked at him. "Sure there is. As long as you're not being an utter dick. You know, Hadley started talkin' of disciplinary action against you?"

Quinn buried his head in his hands.

Ryan leaned back and sighed. "You need to back off Mattie, Jared."

"Thanks for the advice, Thaddeus," Quinn spat. Ryan flinched.

Suddenly, Quinn stood up again and started pacing. He walked aggressively, ran his hands through his hair. He's on a breaking point, Ryan realized. This is serious.

"My family's career military, you know that?" Quinn suddenly said. "Yeah, my father, my father's father, all the way back to whenever. I grew up on an army base."

"Ah know," Ryan said cautiously, careful not to push him closer to whatever pit he was balancing on the edge of.

"Apparently," Quinn continued, "the army is the only job that matters, and the only way to be a real man is to be a soldier. If you're not a soldier, you're not a worthy human being." He stopped and chuckled quietly. "I have a cousin who's a plumber. We stopped asking him over for Christmas when he dropped out of military academy."

"Well, all due respect to your family, I'm sure they're nice folk and you should be proud of them and what they've done for our country. But that's bullshit," Ryan said. He stood up and walked over to Quinn. "The army isn't everythin'."

"It is to us," Quinn whispered. "And I like being a soldier, I do. I even like working with the Autobots. Or I did, until she showed up."

"Mattie," Ryan said.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. You know what really ticks me off about her?" He started pacing again, ranting. "There she is, a soft, little civilian, suddenly just a part of the group. And that's okay. It's fine, even. But now she's in love with an alien? And he loves her back. And everyone's okay with it! How in the hell is it okay for her to do that when I can't – I can't…"

"You can't what?" Ryan asked.

Quinn stopped and turned towards him. In the dusky rain, his face was almost all shadow, but the light from the lamppost on the wall reflected in his eyes and the tears on his cheeks.

"When I can't be in love with you," he whispered.

Ryan stared at him. What? So that's… What?! "But you can," he sputtered, still reeling slightly. "The DADT was repelled back in 2010. That's seven years ago."

Quinn chuckled sadly. "As if that matters in my family." He turned away from Ryan, dejected.

Ryan walked up to him slowly. Gently, he laid his fingers on the other man's shoulder. Quinn tensed.

"Hey," Ryan said softly. "Why didn't you just tell me?" His other hand came up, started stroking Quinn's neck. Quinn shook his head, still looking away.

Ryan stepped closer. Slowly, carefully, he moved around to stand in front of him. He let one hand run down Quinn's arm until he found his hand. With his other hand, he cupped Quinn's cheek. "Jared."

Quinn was biting his lip, looking everywhere but at Ryan. He lifted his hand and scrubbed at his eyes angrily.

Ryan ducked his head, trying to catch the other man's gaze. "Look at me, Jared. You can." He lifted his other hand to cradle Quinn's face between his hands. "You can."

The other man finally looked at him. Ryan waited until he had Quinn's full attention. Then he leaned in, ever so slowly, and gently touched his lips to Quinn's.

After a moment, he pulled back. Quinn stared at him with wide eyes. Then he hungrily pressed his mouth against Ryan's again. His hands came up, and he grabbed hold of Ryan's t-shirt, pulling him closer.

"I can?" he said breathlessly in between kisses. "You mean that?"

"Ah do mean that," Ryan murmured, kissing him back. "Ah can't believe you didn't just tell me. You could've spared yourself a whole lot of misery."

"I was scared," Jared whispered, leaning his forehead against Ryan's. "You don't know how it is, you've always been who you are and you're accepted for that. And I couldn't see why you would want – me."

Ryan grinned and slid his arms around the other soldier. "Ah happen to like you quite a lot when you're not bein' a dickhead."

"I'll try to tone that down then," Quinn chuckled.

"Not too much, though, okay?" Ryan murmured, leaning in to kiss him again. "You're pretty damn good as you are."

Quinn grinned, letting his arms sneak around Ryan's neck. "Just keep reminding me."


"Mattie?"

Oh no ,I know that voice. She looked up warily. Quinn and Ryan were standing at the door to the building where she and the other civilians slept.

Wait a minute. Are they – holding hands? She looked again. They were. Ryan was grinning at her, looking positively ecstatic. Noticing her look, he stepped a little closer to Quinn.

"Mattie?" Quinn said again. "Is it okay if I talk to you for a moment?"

"Um. Sure," she said, standing. "Let's go outside, okay?" He can't really tear into my hide with Ryan there, Ryan would pummel him. Even with the hand-holding.

She followed the two soldiers out into the light rain. As soon as they were outside, Quinn turned and took a deep breath.

"Mattie, I owe you an apology. No, I owe you more than that. The way I've treated you this past week…" he shook his head. "There's no excuse. I'm so, so sorry." He looked at her. "I don't expect you to forgive me, not just like that. Just – just know I'll never do anything like that again."

"Um." Mattie stared at him, then at Ryan, then back at Quinn. "You're right, I can't forgive you just like that. You were very cruel to me. And you ripped up some really old wounds." She held up a hand to stave off the protest she could see forming on Ryan's lips. "That doesn't mean I won't, though, in time. But you're going to have to earn it."

Quinn grinned at her, a boyish, relieved smile that lit up his entire face. And there's what's ensnared Ryan, I bet. "I'll prove it," he nodded eagerly. "I'll be your slave for life, if that's what it takes."

Mattie giggled and shook her head, partly at Quinn, and partly at the jealous look that flashed across Ryan's face. "That won't be needed. Just – be nice, okay? Be nice."

"Believe it or not, I can do that," Quinn nodded, grinning. "I just haven't shown you."

"Then do," Mattie said, reaching out her hand. "Start over. Hi, I'm Mattie Eden. My boyfriend's an Autobot."

"Hi, Mattie," Quinn laughed, shaking her hand. "I'm Jared Quinn. My boyfriend's a gun-wielding guitar playing son of the south."

Ryan snorted. "You're makin' me sound like a madman."

"Well, aren't you?" Quinn said, looking at Ryan through long eyelashes. His voice was suddenly low and husky. Ryan stared at him, then groaned and pulled him close, kissing him hungrily.

"Okay!" Mattie said, laughing. "That's my cue to leave! I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Neither one of them noticed that she went back inside.


Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. Mattie looked up from her seat on the beach, meeting the optics of a furious Bumblebee.

"He just apologized? Just like that." He snarled. "Like that's enough."

"Easy, Bee," Mattie replied, trying to soothe him. She crawled up on his lap and kissed his chest. "Listen. In this world, that's what people do. They act like idiots, they feel bad, they apologize."

"Act like an idiot doesn't cover it, not by a long shot," Bee grumbled. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. "He hurt you."

"Yes. But as you know, I've had worse. I've lived worse, and I've gotten past worse." She climbed up on his chest, placing her hands on his face. "This thing with Quinn? This is nothing. It's an echo, it's vapor. And if I can get past it, so can you."

She leaned in and kissed him softly. Or at least that was the plan, until Bee pulled her so close to him that she worried for her physical health.

"You have no idea how awful it feels to see you hurt," he mumbled. "I could have ripped Quinn's head off."

"I know," Mattie grinned. "That's why I didn't tell you."

"And you just forgive him? He's sorry, so that's it?"

Mattie shook her head. "Not by a long shot. He doesn't get anything for free. But I owe it to Ryan to at least give him a chance. Ryan will keep him in check, anyway."

Bumblebee nuzzled at her hair. "What does Ryan have to do with it?"

Mattie giggled. "Everything. Apparently, all Quinn really needed was a bit of Ryan. And besides, Ryan's told him to be nice, or he's breaking up with him."

Bumblebee grinned. "Is that how it is?"

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Mattie said, smiling. "Out of the blue." She leaned in and kissed him again. "Quinn's asked us to a bonfire party tomorrow night. Complete with music and marshmallows, he says. Cade and Viviane are going too. Will you behave?" She crept down on his chest again, letting her fingers run under his chest armor. "Please?"

"No fair," he groaned, opening the armor. "You're fighting dirty."

Mattie laughed quietly, and leaned down to kiss his most sensitive bits. "Pretty please?" She let her tongue run along the hot metal.

Bee groaned, arching his back. "Bonfire. Yeah. Cool." He looked down at her. "Please don't stop?"

Mattie grinned. "See? Please always works." She let her tongue run over the metal again.

He grunted. "Only because I love you." Suddenly he grapped her, and turned around so she was lying on the ground with him towering over her. "You little minx."

"Ooh, good earth reference," she grinned.

Bumblebee chuckled and teased her shirt up. "I aim to surprise." He leaned down abruptly and kissed her stomach, working his way up towards her chest.

Mattie gasped. "Holy – !"

"Please will you let Quinn suffer a bit?" Bee grinned wickedly, slowly tugging her pants down. "Pretty please?"

Mattie squirmed under his warm digits. "You'd better not start anything you can't finish," she warned. The effect of the threat was thoroughly ruined by her being breathless.

Bee just laughed, a low, deep sound in his chest that had Mattie squirming. "No promises." His digit gently teased her legs apart, while his mouth came back on her breast.

Mattie arched her back and moaned. "Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

One digit gently started probing at her most sensitive spot. "Pretty please what?" he said, in the same low, purring tone.

Mattie quivered and tensed against him. "Pretty please, Bee," she groaned. "You're killing me here."

"Promise to let him suffer?" Bee said, moving back from her breast and down to her stomach.

She nodded desperately. "Yeah fine, fine, whatever you say, just please -!"

He grinned against her stomach. "That's my girl." Then his mouth moved further down her stomach, until it rested against the top of her pubic bone. Mattie arched her back and moaned as her legs were pushed a little further apart and his digit was removed.

"Please…"

"Not done yet, love."

Suddenly, Bee's mouth was between her legs. Mattie squealed and pushed her hips against him. "You – crazy Autobot!" she grunted.

Bee chuckled, still in that low purr. "Driving you insane, am I? Good. I'm having fun."

Mattie pummeled her helm with her fists. "Please! Oh my God!"

Suddenly Bee growled, pushing against her. She tensed and pushed back, as his mouth eagerly moved on her. She arched her back, fists burrowing into the ground, moaning loudly, screaming his name, as wave after wave of pleasure washed through her body.

As she relaxed and lay panting, Bumblebee lifted his head, looking at her. She lifted one hand to his cheek weakly.

"Please do that again sometime?" she whispered. "Pretty please?"

Bumblebee just grinned.