Oh my goodness, I have been away for far too long for y'all! My apologies, enjoy!

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

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker hadn't seen Laceburner in about four hours. They knew she didn't work today, and they had seen not only Prowl but also Optimus somewhere throughout the base after Lacey had gone to speak to them, so that meant she was free, but where was unknown. She wasn't responding to comms either.

"Where the frag is she?" Sideswipe asked aloud.

Sunstreaker, from where he sat working polish into his paint, looked over his shoulder.

"Comm her."

"I've tried that. She didn't answer."

"Try again." he suggested.

Sideswipe just groaned.

"Would you relax? She knows her way around the island, Sides. She's been here for almost two and a half years. She may be young but she isn't a defenseless sparkling." Sunstreaker rolled his optics.

"Who the frag says I'm worried about her safety? I have plans, I wanna... introduce some things to her." he explained.

His twin smirked at the implication he laid.

"Then comm her again." he stated.

Sideswipe groaned, but took his twin's advice, opening a private comm between the three of them.

{:: Laceburner? Lacey, where are- ::}

{:: Kinda busy Sideswipe! Agh. ::}

Both mechs stopped at her pained yell. Before they could even ask what was wrong, she clamped the comm shut, going back to focusing on whatever it was she was doing.

Before they could even begin to wonder what the Pit that was, or even what had happened to her, another comm opened, and this time Smokescreen was yelling at them.

{:: Frag off, Lacey and I are in the middle of something. ::}

Then, he shut that channel, and a public comm was opened.

*(* Ratchet, can you come to Training Room three, please. Quickly! *)* Smoke yelled

*(* On my way. *)* the CMO responded.

*(* What's goin' on? *)* Jazz asked, but he got no answer in return.

Sunstreaker stood up, closed his polish, and walked out of the room, headed straight for training room three with Sideswipe on his heels.

As the doors came within seeing distance, Ratchet had already keyed in the security code, and just as the Medical Officer opened the door something slammed into it from the inside, causing it to close on him again. On the opposite side of the door, whoever it was got back up and ran to the opposite side of the room.

"What the frag is going on?" Sideswipe asked.

"How would I know, I just got here?" the CMO asked. "I was asked to come, I came."

Ratchet opened the door again, and the three mechs walked in just in time to see Laceburner jump onto Smokescreen's back, wrap her legs around his neck, and swing him down to the ground using her body weight.

As he was falling he reached up and pulled her off his shoulders, and threw her away. She did a backwards somersault once, stopped herself from sliding backwards by dragging her hand along the ground, and stood up, having already landed on her feet. She looked up at him, huffed, then ran at him.

They were sparring. Except, it was getting a little more violent than a normal spar would. Laceburner was refusing to lose, and getting irritated; Smoke didn't want to lose to a tiny femme, but she was wearing him out and he knew it, which made him angrier. Neither of them were going to stop.

Just as Laceburner walked up to him, he reached up and grabbed her by her shoulders, then hooked his foot behind her ankle, and went to slam her into the ground, back first. She landed, winded, but placed both of her hands beside her head, rolled over to stand back up slowly, trying to regain her breath.

"What's goin' on in he- whoa." Jazz said as he sauntered in beside.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Flare Up asked as she, Arcee, and Mythic walked into the room, accompanied with Hot Rod, Cliffjumper, and Mirage.

"Primus, what are they doing?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Its a spar. One thats almost going a little too far, but a spar none the less." Ratchet answered, obviously angry at how rough they were being with each other over a spar.

Smokescreen put his hands up in a fighting position as they circled each other. Laceburner's visor was as black as a void, keeping her poker face strong, but Smokescreen, you could see, was angry and tired. He wanted to win, but he also wanted a break.

"How long have they been going at it?" Hot Rod asked, but nobody had an answer.

Smokescreen threw a few punches, all of which Laceburner evaded, before she landed two good hits to his abdominal section. He grunted, but shook them off, and went back to focusing on her. It would be a lie to say Sunstreaker didn't find this both amusing and interesting. Laceburner was smart, he knew that much, but watching her spar made her seem more like a genius than just smart. She was not only wearing the larger mech out, but she was taking advantage of her speed and size to confuse him. And she was analyzing him. She was picking out his weak spots. The way he walked with his shoulders put a lot of tension on his back. How he kept his right side further from her than his left. How he put more weight and pressure on his left leg. He was doing everything he could to mask them, but she was picking up on the smallest details.

Quickly, she ducked and planted five quick, hard punches on the right side of his abs, then pulled back far enough that he couldn't reach her.

He reached out to try and clock her upside the head, but she leaned back ever so slightly, and his whole fist missed her. While he was busy recoperating from the momentum of the missed swing, she turned and round house kicked his right knee. The knee joint buckled under the pressure, and he fell to one knee with a yell of pain.

Once down on one knee, she reared her elbow back ever so slightly and planted it right in the middle of his back, between his shoulder blades. He yelled out in pain.

"Yeah, hit 'im, Lacey!" Cliffjumper yelled, clearly into the fight.

"Get 'im." Hot Rod said aloud, though it was obvious he didn't realize he said it out loud, so intensley interested in the outcome of this fight that his face had formed into a sneer.

Sunstreaker crossed his arms, smirking as he turned to watch the little femme, electing to ignore Mythics looks at him and his twin.

Smokescreen fell to his hands with a groan as she curled up her fist and punched him , this time on the left of his faceplates, and she stepped back from him. She wiped sweat off her forehead, and waited until he got back up.

"You know you... won't win this." he panted as he stood up, putting his fists back up.

"Yeah right, she's handing you your aft on a silver platter, Smoke." Cliffjumper laughed, and Hot Rod joined him in laughing.

Smokescreen looked over and glared at his friends, and Laceburner took advantage of the distraction. She ran forward, then jumped into the air and kicked him in the face. He staggered back, almost fell back, and gritted his teeth.

He swung. She ducked.

He kicked. She evaded.

He stepped back. She pounced.

Like, literally. She waited until he was a little more unstable in his steps as he backed up, then jumped onto his shoulders, and used both her weight and momentum to slam him into the floor, then jumped off in a somersault. She stopped before she could slide too far, then spun, and locked her legs around his neck. She reached down, pulled his arm up, and locked him in a chokehold.

It took him a couple of long seconds, then he tapped the ground about seven times.

She let him go, then got up as he leaned over and coughed loudly. She reached down, offering Smokescreen a hand to help him up, before they shook hands, nodding.

"That was good, Lace. Thanks."

"How long have you two been trying to kill each other?" Ratchet asked.

Both bots looked up at him, both panting heavily, and Sunstreaker smirked.

(~ Atta girl. ~) Sideswipe praised through the sibling bond without realising that he let it slip, though she didn't hear them.

"I'm assuming you guys are done." The Hatchet declared.

Laceburner nodded, and Smokescreen's right knee suddenly gave out. He groaned as he fell towards the ground, and Laceburner's arms reacted almost before she could realize it, effectively catching him before he could fall to the floor. When he was stable on one leg he nodded, and she let him go to balance on his own.

"You sure?" she asked quietly, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks."

"What were you two thinking?" he asked angrily as he stomped over

"I was thinking that since Lace and I are going on a mission soon, Lace hadn't sparred in a while, and I wanted the practice, we might as well. Apparently, I need a lot more of it, too."

"Ya think?" Sunstreaker asked rhetorically.

"She was kicking your aft, Smoke." Flare Up commented.

"Why didn't you stop this when your knee started hurting?" he demanded.

"'Cause, I wanted to win. And it wasn't hurting until only a couple minutes ago."

Ratchet rolled his eyes, hitting him upside the head. "How long have you guys been fighting?"

Smokescreen looked down at Laceburner. "When did you leave your office after the meeting with Boss Bot and Prowl?"

She shrugged, her visor became a lighter shade of black - Sideswipe's best guess was she was checking the time - before she spoke, "It's been three hours."

"Holy Primus, three hours." Smokescreen panted.

Ratchet hit him again. "Let's go, I'll fix you in the Med Bay."

With the green bot's help, he wrapped his arm around Ratchet's shoulders and the CMO helped him hobble out of the room as Laceburner picked up the dummy swords they'd been using earlier that were scattered on the other side of the mat.

Before Sideswipe or Sunstreaker could move to her side, someone spoke up.

"Are you okay, Lacey?" Mirage asked, staring at her - he'd been staring at her this whole time.

She looked at him for a long second, not caring enough to put emotion in to her response. "I'm fine."

Sunstreaker smirked, then walked across the mat. He crouched down, picking up an axe and one of the swords that she had just grabbed, and their hands hit each others. She looked up into his eyes and giggled, smiling widely. He chuckled, but took the sword from her as they both stood up. He followed behind her as she placed them back on the rack, as did he, before she turned back around. She walked to the mat, leaned down and folded the first square of the mat up. Once the entire thing was folded up, she attempted to pick it up but it proved too heavy. Smokescreen had been the one to take it out when they came in, so instead she grabbed the edge and dragged it over. Well, as far as she could before Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both picked up a side and started to put it in the closet.

She turned her head to see who was still in the room. Hot Rod and Mirage had left, and Cliffjumper was walking out, probably right behind them. Mythic was speaking to Flare Up, and Arcee was walking her way.

"Lace, can I talk to you?" she asked.

Laceburner furrowed her brow, but nodded. Arcee gave her a soft smile, then motioned for her to follow, and she did. Arcee brought her over to far corner and turned around to look at Laceburner.

"Um.. Lace, what's going on between you and the twins?" she asked.

"What?" Laceburner asked. "Why?"

"Well, its just... they aren't exactly the best mechs to go for." Arcee advised.

Laceburner rolled her eyes, though Arcee didn't see it, and instead the sharpshooter took that as an invitation to continue speaking.

"Do you know why Mytic and them aren't together anymore? Like, do you know what they did to her?"

Laceburner huffed, then said something she never thought she'd say.

"You want my real answer, or the answer everybody expects little old Laceburner to give?" she asked angrily, her tone having an edge.

That's my girl.

Arcee was visibly taken aback.

"Well, sweetie of course I want your real answer." she smiled

"Good. I don't know jack shit right now. I don't know why they decided to ditch me for Mythic. I don't know why the three of them called it quits. I don't know what I ever fucking did to Mythic to make her hate me from the moment she stepped off that ship. I don't know what I ever fucking did to Mirage to make him hate me too. I don't know why all of the sudden, all of you dislike me, or won't talk to me, or pretend like I'm not around, and suddenly start whispering when I walk in the room, acting like I can't see it. I have no fucking clue. Let me repeat that; I have no fucking clue. All I know is I like them. I liked them before Mythic showed up, I liked them while they were with Mythic, and I like them now. They're the only ones that act like I didn't commit a murder or something, so yeah, I like them. I don't know what happened between them, why they aren't together - I don't know any of it, and I don't want to. What I want is for people to stop treating me the way they are now, like I'm a piece of shit. If that can't happen, then I don't want to talk to any of you. I have no plans to apologize to anybody because I haven't done anything wrong, and I don't want to learn what I apparently did or what supposedly happened, or any of that crap, so save it."

That's! My! Girl!

Laceburner walked past a stunned Arcee, but before she could get more than a pedstep away, she looked back at the sharpshooter.

"You know, for a bunch of supposed 'adults', you guys act like a bunch of fucking teenage high schoolers around here. Always looking for the next big gossip, and someone to shit on."

Yes! Now walk out!

She walked to the door, pushing it open loudly, angrily, and down the hall.

What about the twins?

They'll find you. Just go to our spot, Sunstreaker knows the way and we'll get some actual peace and quiet.

She listened.

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

"Lacey?"

The black femme lifted her head from where she lay, her blanket laid out along the sand to prevent particles from getting into her armour. The voice sounded distant, like it was too far away to be at the entrance of the cove. He must have been standing at the entrance to the cave instead.

"Yeah?"

"Sides is with me, can he come?"

"Yeah!" she called back, laying back down, her hands slipping under her head to act as a pillow.

She heard mumbling that got louder as they got closer.

"Sunny, this is just an empty cave, where the frag are we- whoa."

Sunny pushed the vines to the side, revealing her little paradise to Sideswipe's eyes, and the red mech froze.

"Holy slag." he whispered.

"Move." Sunstreaker grunted, pushing into on to the sand, closing the entrance behind him.

Sideswipe spotted Laceburner right away, laying in the shade, her visor pitch black to indicate her eyes were closed, or the sun was too bright on her eyes. Sunstreaker passed him as he headed towards her and took a seat on the blanket. At the sensation of the blanket being moved, as well as the accompanying whir of his knee joints moving as he sat down, the little femme sat up. She turned so that her back was to the water and sun. Sideswipe followed his twin's lead, and took a seat on the blanket.

"You found this place on your own?" Sideswipe asked.

She nodded. "You read my data pad. I don't like being back at base. Its confusing, its… loud. Nobody there seems to... like me very much. I can't relate. There's nobody out here, the Dinobots fit in here, its..." she trailed off, looking over her shoulder to stare out at the water. "Its the only place that makes me feel like not remembering anything is okay."

When she looked back, Sideswipe was staring straight at her. Her mouth formed up into a slight smile.

"Surprised one of the big lugs aren't here." Sunny commented.

Just as he finished saying that, there was a screech that ended just as Swoop came cork-screwing down to the surface. Just before he could slam into the ground face first, he opened his wings, pulling his head and chest back and moving his feet closer to the ground instead. Sand flew up as he flapped his wings quickly, and he landed feet first in the shallowest part of the water. He screeched loudly one last time, then stepped out of the water, and moved over to a part of the beach that was far enough to not touch the water. He laid down, soaking up the sun rays as Strafe came gliding threw the air, landing only a couple feet away from his brother, and he sat down, looking out at the water.

She looked back at Sunstreaker with a smile, and he looked over at her, obviously annoyed at it.

"You spoke too soon, there." she giggled.

Though he tried not to, her smile became contagious, and he ever so slightly let a grin dance on his lips for a second or two. She giggled again, but this time it was because Slash came strutting through the entrance. As he passed them, though too far away to touch them, he snorted. When Sunstreaker noticed, he rolled his eyes again, clearly annoyed that he was wrong.

"Can they all fit in here?" Sideswipe asked.

Laceburner nodded. "Everybody but Slash have to come through in bipedal mode because their dino modes don't fit through the hole, but yeah."

Sideswipe nodded.

She swallowed the spit that pooled in her mouth. "Um, can I ask you guys something?"

"Anything you want." Sideswipe nodded, and Sunstreaker's optic focused on her.

"Um... so, what are we supposed to do now?" she asked.

Sideswipe raised his brow with a smirk ."I can think of a lot of things to do right now. A lot of things to do to you."

She blushed heavily, deeply. Heavier than ever before.

"U-um, n-no, I mean like. W-What do we do? Do we let people know about us? What even is us? I-I just don't-" she stopped talking, too scared to make a fool of herself, and looked down at her lap.

Sideswipe leaned forward curling a finger under her chin, and when she looked up at him, planted soft kiss against her lips.

She blushed again, but smiled, and unlatched her visor, tucking it away to reveal her optics.

He smiled at her. "So, you have a lot of questions?" he asked.

She nodded.

"And you want answers?" he asked again.

Her eyes darted over to him, then she nodded again.

"I guess that means you're gonna be here for a while." Sideswipe smiled. "'Cos we've got a lot of explaining, and you're gonna have to listen in order to understand. You want to hear it all?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes please.

Sunstreaker nodded once. "Alright."

"Get comfy." Sideswipe winked.

She did just that.