I've only ever watched RID for the Decepticons... I haven't even watched the entirety of season 1/2 yet here I am. Writing a fanfic. How did this happen. I did watch the entirety of Prime though, so that's something right. Hopefully no one's too ooc, I'm not good at this whole fanfiction thing, I'm more of a fanartist type of gal.

ANYWAY, not sure how long this'll be, am already working on Chapter 2 though.

Bumblebee and Sideswipe sped through the woods, avoiding obstacles. Swerving to avoid the oncoming trees, Sideswipe groaned in annoyance.

"Hey, so is it just me or have we been tracking this signal for hours?"

The yellow car besides him grunted in his own annoyance before responding, "We've hardly been at this an hour Sideswipe. Besides, the signal is moving, it's going to take a moment to catch up to whoever, or whatever, this is."

The red car groaned again, "Well, do we at least know if it's a Decepticon? I wouldn't mind having a little bit of fun after this snoozefest of a mission."

"No, Sideswipe. To both things. We don't fight unless the Decepticon, if it is a Decepticon, refuses to go peacefully."

"Ha! Since when have any Decepticon gone peacefully?"

Bumblebee didn't respond, instead braking suddenly and transforming into bot mode, motioning for Sideswipe to do the same. They both stood where they were, Bumblebee listening quietly as Sideswipe crossed his arms impatiently, looking around. It took only a moment for him to realize just how much of a mess this part of the forest was, branches littered around, scratches covered the trees, and quite a bit of dirt was dug up.

"We must be getting close." Bumblebee whispered, before motioning Sideswipe to follow along. "It can't be too much farther."

Despite the apparent intensity of the situation, Sideswipe snickered as Bumblebee took out his blaster, "So much for trying to make things peaceful, huh?"

Bumblebee ignored him, continuing his trek into the woods.

After a short time of quiet wandering, Bumblebee paused again and looked at the surrounding trees, observing quietly, "These marks aren't made by any small or simple bot. These markings almost look like they were made by something… Feral." He was talking to himself more than Sideswipe, but the curious bot listened in as well, "There's also the possibility of a fight, but Fixit only mentioned one signal in this area."

Sideswipe stiffened up, thinking about the implications of his leader's statement, and in a voice louder then he would've liked, cried out, "Wait, are you implying we might be dealing with a mur-"

He was cut off as a sudden shriek filled the forest, the creator of the noise flying not far above them through the trees. Both Autobots had their weapons drawn now, one with a more than irritated look in his face. Spinning around, Bumblebee raised his blaster, prepared to shoot, but their assailant was nowhere to be seen. The yellow bot lowered his weapon only slightly, before turning back to Sideswipe angrily.

"Great," He muttered, almost glaring at the other bot, "So much for the element of surprise."

"Hey," Sideswipe raised his arms in defense, weapon still in hand, "No one told me we'd be dealing with murderers!"

Bumblebee sighed, before saying in a much calmer tone, "There's no proof this bot is a murderer Sideswipe. There's no signs of torn metal or spilled energon anywhere nearby, and we can tell by the state of the forest it would have been a nasty fight."

This seemed to calm the red bot significantly, though he looked to Bumblebee in surprise when the yellow bot put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Besides, we've technically already dealt with a murderer before. We can take on whatever this bot throws at us."

Sideswipe was about to say something in response, but was interrupted as another shriek erupted from the above. Raising their weapons, the two bots jumped back as a large insectoid robot crashed to the ground between them, knocking them back and screeching again.

Sideswipe fell to the ground, the tremor from the large insect's landing causing him to lose his footing. Scrambling to get up, he let out a panicked yelp, "What is-"

"Insecticon!" Bumblebee yelled, ramming into the hulking bot as it knelt down to Sideswipe.

It only distracted the bug for a moment, but it was long enough to allow Bumblebee to get to his partner's side and help him back to his feet before aiming his blaster, and letting off a few shots at the Insecticon, though they hardly left a mark. Sideswipe now stood besides him, sword drawn and ready to strike if the insect decided to come closer.

"So," Sideswipe whispered as the Insecticon turned to stare at them, "These guys are like super tough right? We could probably use some backup, huh?"

Bumblebee nodded, before jumping away as the Insecticon ran towards him, as if to ram him. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ask Fixit to send Grimlock over, the Dinobot was probably complaining about being bored, and he wouldn't be opposed to the extra help.

Bumblebee was brought back to attention as the Insecticon screeched again, Sideswipe having dodged a swipe from the bug.

"I can only hope Strongarm's having as hard a time as we are…" He growled, before swinging his sword.

"Any sign of that signal, Fixit?" Strongarm asked. She and Drift weren't far from their teammates, though the area was far different. They were nearly inside the city, in fact, though the woods were within view. They were currently parked, watching traffic go by, searching for any suspicious vehicles.

"Working on it! It's moving too erratically to back- pack- track properly!" The Mini-Con stuttered back.

"Of course," She responded, before offlining the com and sitting silently again, watching a jet fly by above her, thinking out loud, "Perhaps we should search while on the move?"

"No," The orange car beside her had spoken for the first time in nearly an hour, she had almost forgotten about his presence, "An erratic signal will become no easier to track if moving. In fact, I would have no doubt it would be even more difficult."

Strongarm couldn't help but agree, plus it had been the lieutenant's orders specifically to stay put while tracking this one. Didn't want to alert a potential threat to their existence so close to the city, and being followed by two very specific vehicles would be quite suspicious.

She looked back to her surroundings, watching as the vehicles raced by. The jet above her started to perform some simple tricks, flipping every now and then. She had been trying to ignore it, but it's polished surface kept shining the sun in her direction. It was rather inconvenient actually. She turned back to the road, careful to focus on the vehicles.

Car. Car. Truck. Jet. Van. Truck. Car. Van. Car. Jet. Van. Jet.

A sudden call from Fixit on their coms alerted them, and Strongarm answered immediately, "This is Strongarm, repor-"

"They're right on top of you!"

Both bots checked their surroundings, but found no trace of the signal, only seeing the same cars parked around them. A shadow passed over them. The jet.

Strongarm was about to question Fixit's computers, before she saw the jet do a more dramatic flip than it had been doing in the air.

And that's when it hit her.

The two of them had been so focused on the road they hadn't even thought to consider their target was in the sky. After all, it was rather strange for an Earth jet to circle the same area repeatedly. It was even stranger to see it do flips and tricks in the air, especially so close to a city. It was just downright ridiculous to see one with such a flashy paint job.

"Why didn't you tell us the signal was flying Fixit?" She almost yelled, revving her engine, noticing the jet seemed to be flying off now, she was lucky she caught it when she did, "We have no choice but to follow them at this point. With any luck they'll land and we'll be able to figure out this bot's identity."

The car behind her revved his engine, and responded, "Agreed."

And with that, the two took off, trying to follow the jet as it flew towards the forest.

Grimlock crashed through the GroundBridge already in Dino mode, banging his fists together a few times before yelling, "Alright! Who do I gotta punch?"

He got no verbal response, instead being knocked to the ground by the one he was supposed to punch almost immediately. He lay there, in a surprised daze. He had not expected that.

"Grimlock!"

Someone had called his name, but he was too distracted with getting up and chasing down whatever had rammed him. He didn't even look back as he got up, turned to the direction his assailant had gone, and with a shout of "Sorry, I'm busy!" ran off.

Bumblebee and Sideswipe stood in silent sock at the sudden turn of events, the former with his arm stretched out after calling to the larger bot. The Insecticon hadn't quite been fighting them as much as playing with them it had felt like, and though he figured they could've taken it out on their own because of this, Bumblebee had still decided to play it safe and used an opportunity during the fight to com Fixit to send the Dinobot over.

He was now beginning to wonder if that was a mistake.

Sideswipe apparently didn't think much of it, putting his weapon away and leaning against a tree, he shrugged and said, "Eh, at least he's dedicated."

"Yes, but-"

Bee was cut off as his com went off. He answered it quickly, speaking before she did, "Strongarm, have you and Drift had any luck with your mission?"

"Yes, we've found the signal sir! We can't tell if Autobot or Decepticon, but definitely Cybertronian! A red jet, we're currently following them."

"Alright," Bumblebee nodded, before going over basic protocols, "Don't attack unless absolutely necessary. If the jet is a Decepticon, it's better not to provoke. If an Autobot, we'd be better to not make a potential bad first impression."

"So… Not Windblade?" Sideswipe had leaned towards him, wondering what exactly had gone on with Strongarm's little team. He had hoped her mission had been difficult, but chasing down a jet didn't seem too hard if it didn't go over any bodies of water.

He didn't get an answer, as Fixit's voice suddenly shouted out over the com instead, "Lieutenant, Strongarm, the signals seem to be approaching each other!"

Bumblebee and Sideswipe glanced at each other, worried. That was a bit of a concern. Both transformed into vehicle mode, racing after where Grimlock had run off to. Surely he'd kept at his little chase, Sideswipe was right on the DInobot being dedicated.

Strongarm's voice broke the sudden silence, "Lieutenant?"

"Keep following the jet, Strongarm." Bumblebee responded immediately, "But try to stay hidden. The Insecticon we found is heading in your direction, and if that con and the bot you're following are associated in any way I'd like to keep fights to a minimum."

"Yes sir!"

They were approaching Grimlock, it seemed the Dinobot had stopped running after the Insecticon and now stood in the forest. He seemed upset. Bumblebee and Sideswipe stopped besides him for a moment.

"Dumb bug's too fast…" He pouted.

Though in vehicle mode, it didn't seem too far off to assume Sideswipe would've shrugged as he stated, "Yeah, kinda figured."

Bumblebee responded afterwords, "Fast or not, that bug is on a possible collision course with another bot. We have to catch up to them."

He sped off again, not giving the larger bot a chance to respond. Sideswipe followed soon after.

Grimlock sighed, getting up slowly. Maybe he'd be able to punch that bug when he caught up with them. Hopefully they wouldn't have it down by then, he really wanted to fight something.

"Why haven't they gained altitude… I would assume trees would be troublesome for a jet at such a close distance."

It was the first thing Drift had said since they had started following the jet. They had kept their distance relatively well, and were hidden by the trees, though there was still the possibility the jet had spotted them but didn't care. Either way, Fixit had informed them they were getting increasingly closer to Bumblebee's team and the Insecticon, but the jet hadn't done much else than head in the same direction.

Strongarm couldn't think of any particular reason the jet had been acting the way it had, she was no expert on flyers.

"Perhaps a strategy of some sort?" She suggested.

"Hmm."

They were nearing a clearing in the forest. They'd be losing their covering in seconds, and she could only hope the bot wasn't hostile. That thought quickly became the least of her worries though, as they entered the clearing and a giant insectoid robot came screeching out from the other end. The Insecticon flew upwards in the direction of the jet. Strongarm quickly transformed back into bot mode and took out her Decepticon Hunter, aiming it at the Insecticon, but it was already too close to the red jet.

The jet swerved to the side, attempting to avoid collision. It worked well enough, as instead of a head on crash the two merely scraped against each other, the mass of the Insecticon and speed of the jet causing a rain of sparks and screech of metal as their bodies collided. Both instinctively transformed back to their bot modes as they separated, hurtling towards the ground. The red bot took a moment to adjust himself as well as he could before landing none too gracefully, stumbling to the ground. The Insecticon just crashed on its back, letting out a whine.

Drift went to action immediately,drawing his swords and running to the grounded Decepticon, yelling to Strongarm, "I'll keep the Insecticon busy until the others arrive, you check on the other one!"

Strongarm nodded, running to where the red bot was now sitting on the ground, one wing bent slightly from the collision and armor scraped and dented along his body. A bit of Energon leaked from his damaged right leg, but not enough to raise immediate concern. Relatively minor damage considering what could've happened, and he still seemed irritated checking himself over, but he'd be fine.

Realizing he was being approached, the grounded bot cast an almost threatening glance at Strongarm. She paused for a moment before continuing, observing him further. His optics were red. Decepticon most likely.

Despite her suspicions, she stopped in front of him and put her weapon away, holding her arms out to show she was unarmed. The red bot seemed to see her accusations though, and just rolled his optics in response, before motioning to his chest, where an Autobot insignia was placed. It was somewhat damaged, likely from the crash, but it was there.

Strongarm lowered her arms, nodding, worry mostly gone. She was about ready to question the other bot before the familiar sound of a certain Autobot interrupted through her com.

"Strongarm, we heard the collision from here!" Bumblebee sounded panicked. "Was there any damage, are you and Drift alright? Sideswipe and I should be there shortly, the trees were too close together for us to drive through in this area so we'll be approaching on foot."

Strongarm responded quickly, still keeping her eyes on the grounded bot in front of her, "Drift and I are unharmed, the collision was between the Insecticon and Cybertronian we had been following. An Autobot. He's sustained minor damage from the looks of it, but I think we'd be better to take him back to base and have Fixit check him out, just in case."

The red bot huffed at Strongarm's words before the blue bot went silent again, probably listening to whoever was at the other end of the conversation. A sudden distressed screech nearby alerted him back to his surroundings as he scrambled up and turned in the direction of the battling Insecticon and Drift. He went to run that way, but was stopped as an arm was stuck in front of him.

"Sir, we don't know the true extent of your damage," Strongarm stated, "It would be better if you stayed still until we-"

"I'm a medic, I'm fine!" The red bot snapped back angrily, pushing her arm away, "Now if you wouldn't mind officer, I'd appreciate it if you called off your friend."

There would likely have been a response from his captor, had a familiar yellow bot not crashed through the woods to the clearing, two others following. Bumblebee grabbed his blaster and, yelling for the orange bot to stand down, aimed it at the Insecticon. The bug looked to him instead, visibly tired and irritated.

"Alright Decepticon, this fight has gone on long enough!" He announced, the two bots behind him readying themselves for a fight as well, "Surrender now, and this will be made much eas-"

"Hold your fire Bee!"

Bumblebee's grip on the blaster visibly fumbled, as he turned to the familiar voice he hadn't expected to hear. He stared at the almost unfamiliar bot, a scuffed and dented red flyer with white and gold accents. They bowed, almost sarcastically, as they noticed the other bot's confusion.

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"He asked, before rising back to a standing position. "Did you miss me?"

The yellow bot continued to stare for a moment, still trying to register what was currently happening, before finally speaking.

"Knock Out?"