It was fortunate that Blurr and Salvage got back when they did.

A dense fog had rolled in over the island of Griffin Rock and the ocean around it as the sun fell. Though it was not late in the evening, everyone in the town had retreated to their homes early, the fog making it nearly impossible to do anything outside. The chilly, moist air was unwelcoming to anyone out in it, and it left the island in a quiet, eerie state of silence.

But although it was quiet outside, inside the Firehouse, it was not.

"Get her! Get her!" Kade shouted from behind the couch. "Come on Cody, you drive like Mrs. Neederlander!"

Cody grumbled as his fingers fiddled with the controller toggles, trying to beat Dani at yet another round of Auto Rush 4. "If you're so intent on winning Kade, you play it!"

"Nah, that wouldn't be fair to Dani."

Dani grinned, "Yeah, I'd like the possibility to lose on occasion...!"

"Hey!"

Chief Burns rolled his eyes at his kids' rivalry, tempted to make one of those "When I was your age" statements.

Chase crossed his arms. "If this were a real race, you would both be arrested for property damage, wreckless driving, poor sportsmanship-"

"But it's not." Heatwave reminded his teammate as he entered the room, "It's just a game."

"Are really encouraging this type of behaviour? Even if it is not in reality?"

"And I thought you were resting." Kade inquired.

"I'm done now." Heatwave muttered, leaving his partner and taking a seat beside Boulder.

The firetruck had gone and placed himself in a stasis pod as soon as they'd dropped off the civilians and then returned to the firehouse, and he'd been there all afternoon. Kade periodically checked on him, and the other bots as well when they returned. His vitals were stable for now, but Blades had decided he would make Heatwave do a diagnostic when he woke up.

Chief Burns wasn't quite sure what to say about the 'encouraging bad sportsmanship' matter, but he did know what to say about the shape stepping in front of the screen. "Uh, Blades?"

"Oh Primus...!" Blades chuckled as he walked over and picked up his son from his position of blocking the humans' view. "Come here, Snowy. You're gonna ruin your optics sitting that close."

"Actually," Graham informed, "There's not any scientific proof that sitting too close will ruin your sight."

Blades gasped at this revelation, looking at his partner. "Dani, you lied to me!"

Dani just grinned, her attention remaining on their game.

"Who would've thought that you'd make such a good papa bird, Blades?" Kade teased.

"Who didn't, is a better question."

"Well-"

"A question that is not to be answered."

Heatwave chuckled, reaching out and stroking Snowblast's little head, the tiny dinobot giving a contented squawk in response. "I'll tell you though, I was worried he'd be another Blurr when he hatched."

"Now I'm insulted!" Blurr complained, "I'm not that annoying!...Am I?"

"...Do you want to hear what you think you want to hear?" Salvage responded, "Or do you want to hear what you should hear, which I'll tell you, and not just what you think you want to hear?"

"...Run that by me again?"

"You're a pain in the actuator sometimes." Heatwave informed, earning a pout from Blurr. "Hey, the truth hurts."

"But we like you anyway." Boulder assured, "Cuz Heatwave is annoying too."

"Excuse me!?"

Blades grinned, "Snowy's a bit annoying when he cries at night, but he's usually pretty well-behaved..."

A loud beeping came from the video game and Cody gave a hard sigh of relief as his fingers were finally able to rest. "Phew...No more for me."

"But you won." Dani repsonded, holding out a hand for a high-five. Cody returned it and then got up from the couch, stretching a little.

Blades placed his son back down on the floor as he started to squirm, and the sparkling ran over to Cody, squawking and flapping his wings excitedly.

Cody giggled, reaching up and stroking the little bot's neck. "...He's gonna outgrow all of us soon."

"They grow up so fast..." Dani murmured.

"Now you kids know how I feel every time I see you..." Chief placed an arm around Cody, "I mean, my youngest is about to graduate High School, two of my kids are either married or engaged...I feel so old."

"Not to mention you have an alien grandchild, Dad." Kade teased, "And who knows? You might have two kids engaged in a few months..."

Cody punched his oldest brother in the shoulder. "Like I'd do that the second me and Frankie are out of school."

"But you plan on doing it eventually though, right...?"

"If I did, what's it to you?"

"Aww..." Dani cooed. "My wittle bwother's all gwown up!"

"The longer we interact with you Burnses, the more we're glad we don't have siblings." Heatwave informed.

"Not biologically, but I'm sure Snowy thinks of you guys as uncles." Cody replied.

Blades picked Snowy back up, nuzzling noses with him. "It's too bad Snowy doesn't have any other little bots to play with."

Heatwave sighed, taking a sip of his energon. "Well...In a few weeks, he will."

He turned as Chase spewed energon, coughing a few times before looking up at Heatwave. "He'll what...!?" He rasped. "Heatwave-"

"Wow, Chase...Nice spit take."

Blurr's hands clenched into fists, "Slag you, Heatwave! You don't just announce things like that!"

"Language, Blurr!" Blades scolded, covering Snowblast's audio receptors. "There are small audio receptors present...!"

"Sorry, Blades...!"

"But on another note..." Blades looked at Salvage, "CALLED IT!"

"Looks like you were in denial back there, partner..." Kade informed.

"Believe me Kade, I was doing everything I could to avoid it." He then grimaced, holding his torso as he stumbled back a few steps.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Boulder caught his teammate, helping him sit down. "Why don't you just sit down..."

"I just need to watch myself is all..." Heatwave assured, "I can handle it."

"Uh...I think today's fainting fiasco proves you can't 'handle it' and function fine on missions at the same time." Kade reminded.

"Kade raises a good point..." Chief murmured, "And if you go feral like Blades did, we can't be chasing you down too."

"Not to offend Blades, but Heatwave is less likely to flee a threat than he is." Chase reminded, "Also, Heatwave's dinobot mode is incapable of flight. It would be incredibly unlikely for him to leave the island should he in fact retreat."

"Good point." Boulder agreed.

There then came a chirp, and Chief Burns tapped his commlink. "Chief Burns, go ahead."

"Aaaand here it comes..." Blurr mumbled, "...Somebody decided they could see in the fog and paid for it."

Chief listened for a few moments. "We'll get right on it... Alright Team, we've got a five-car pileup by the docks."

"Five...!?" Blades groaned.

"Chase, Boulder, Blades, Salvage, let's get going."

The bots gave a combination of nods and eye rolls, and their partners moved to join them.

"Wait, what about me?" Blurr asked.

"We don't need a six-car pileup, Blurr." Kade teased as he climbed into Chase with the Chief. "You like to...jump the gun."

"But-"

"Sit, boy." Heatwave informed, patting Blurr on the helm. "Stay."

Blades handed Snowblast to Heatwave, "Just keep an eye on him, okay?"

Heatwave nodded, though he didn't seem particularly happy about staying behind. The bots transformed into vehicle mode and their partners climbed in, and then they were gone.

"So...Who's up for charades?" Blurr suggested.

Heatwave rolled his eyes, grimacing as another painful twinge pulsed through his systems. "Snow and I will be in my quarters..." He muttered, wandering down the hall and leaving Blurr alone in the garage...

...Well, not completely alone. The racecar looked down at Servo, who looked back with a wagging tail.

"...You up for charades?"