Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Starscream: Has anybot seen the twins?

Knockout: *nervously* Not since earlier. *sets servo on table*

*both hear switch*

Both: Slag.

Chapter 44: Training Habits

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

"So, I have to say it's nice being here casually for a change,"

I growled and threw the throw pillow next to me at Michael. To my satisfaction, the target was hit and he let out an 'oof', before setting down said pillow and laughing. "That's not as funny as you think."

"But it is true," He shot back at me.

I shook my head at that. "Despite how true that is, it still isn't funny."

He then held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'm done with that." He then gave me a knowing look that caused me to want to squirm. I did not like that look at all. "How have you been getting on at the place you are staying? And why haven't you told me where that is yet? I'd like to give them a piece of my mind about how they have been acting around you. You shouldn't be forced to flee in the middle of the night in a full-blown panic attack."

Slag, I had to be careful with how I answered him. Didn't want him to find out too much about what was going on. "They...are a complicated group. Don't like new people showing up and they were nice enough to let me stay there. But, they aren't people I can talk to about many personal things yet. That's why I am glad I have you."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And my other question?"

Frag. Well, at least I could report a positive to him. Seriously, rich people had too much time on their hands. "I'm getting on better than I was. There are a few people I don't mind talking to, and some of the ones that were treating me...not kindly," He frowned at that with a knowing look. I just continued. "Have come forward and apologized."

"So, a little progress at least. That's good." Michael sighed. "I would still like to get my hands on them though."

"Stand down," I sighed before shaking my head. "I'm planning on joining in on some sparring that they do. See if that doesn't help me connect with them some more. It's helped me with these guys."

Instead of an encouraging look, Michael frowned at my response. What did I say wrong? "But, these aren't your friends here. Be careful Lizzie. You haven't said that they have all accepted you yet and, since that means there are some still against you, they could use this as a chance to hurt you."

I knew that. Of course, I knew that. I had nightmares about it ever since I was discovered by the Autobots. If it hadn't been for Wheeljack, then I knew that my nightmares would only be worse...if I was even still mentally online. It had been just over a month since the Autobots found out that I used to be Lizzie but the nightmares were still as fresh as that first solar. But, I needed to get over all of my fears of the Autobots, that was especially since I wanted peace between our two factions. I could see that I was gaining headway on that front with a few of the bots I had contact with. Wheeljack seemed like I could move him toward peace.

And that was one of the surprising facts I had faced since coming to the Autobots. Wheeljack, who in the original timeline would have never even given a Decepticon the time of solar, was one of the first to accept that I wasn't the complete bad-bot in all of this. Trusted me with little things, and just even treated me like a sentient being with feelings and emotions on my own. Meanwhile, the 'valorous' cast of bots that made it into the original timeline seemed to be sorely lacking, at least some of them. And some of the new faceplates seemed to be in that same direction.

"I'll be careful Michael," I promised him since I felt like I could.

He nodded at that. "You better, because if I find out that they caused you to have one more panic attack, I will personally hunt them down and tear them limb from limb." He seemed way too chipper when he said that. Rich guys definitely had too much time on their hands. "Well, I need to be off for now. Want to try a local diner I drove by in town. Looks pretty delicious. See you, Lizzie," He then stood and waved before heading toward the door.

"See you, Michael," I called back to him. Once he was gone, I stood up and turned toward James before saying, "If any of the big guys ask where I went, let them know that I went back to my body."

"Sure thing," He answered with a nod before I went upstairs. Once I was inside the V.I.P. room, I deactivated my soliform. Once I was fully aware of myself, I sat up from my berth and made my way towards the door. I wanted to get some meditation in before I found someone to practice with.

Megatron's 1st P.O.V.

I was...conflicted. Given the current state of my Decepticons, it was not a state that I wanted to be in. Yet, here I was. The Decepticons, my Decepticons, were poised to take on the Autobots, with a high chance of victory, at this very click. We knew where their base was, and the Autobots were fractured internally to the point where it would be simple to pick them off. Very simple. However, there was one drawback that prevented me from attacking the Autobots.

They had Pandimala.

She had done much for the Decepticons, and I knew she wished for peace between us. If the arrangement was fair between Autobots and Decepticons, then it would be a possibility. Also, the femme was the reason that we had such an advantage, to begin with. With the information gained through her cortical psychic patch along with the information she was feeding us during her current captivity, the Decepticons could launch a devastating attack against the Autobots.

However, the hope the femme held for a peaceful resolution for us had been so strong that I even felt like it was very possible during her patch. That was even despite the attitudes that were visible both on the battlefield and in Pandimala's reports. Thoughts on the femme suddenly caused my spark to send a strange feeling through my chassis that the femme had caused before, either by her presence or my thought of her.

I needed to think about these questions, and in an environment that I was familiar with. So, I stood before making my way to the training rooms. And, as I had the perfect training partner in processor for this, I contacted him on the comms and told him to meet me before disconnecting. I had yet to have a bot-to-bot talk with Scavenger yet and, from how he was the last time I saw him in the bot, he would be a neutral voice of reason to any concerns I brought up to him.

Also, I would be able to ask him about the mech he brought with him. Dunce was a fairly new convert to the Decepticons. The mech came with no skills to speak on but Hook agreed that the mech had a steady servo, so agreed to give the young mech medical training. While the mech was picking up Hook's teachings quickly, the medic noted extreme reactions from Dunce when the young mech made mistakes. Plus, the young mech refused to speak to any of the bots on the ship about his past. The mech was practically an expert at changing speaking subjects when said subject grew too close to talking about his past. So, for now, Scavenger was the best option for that information.

Once I arrived, I noted that Scavenger was already standing in the ring. "Lord Megatron, shall we begin?"

I nodded. "Light sparring for now," From the look of understanding that showed in his optics, Scavenger realized that I wished to talk to him. So, our sparring began.

After a few clicks, so we could have a constant rhythm, he spoke. "What seems to be troubling you Lord Megatron?"

I would have to get used to Scavenger's direct questioning method again. But, I had asked him to spar with me, and there were a few topics that I wanted to bring up. "Firstly, what is your view on the fight here on Earth?"

Scavenger blocked a strike before answering. "It is not what I was expecting. Rumors had it that the command on Earth was splintering and was few in numbers. Arriving here to find both of those rumors false was an unexpected, yet pleasant, surprise. Seeing Starscream lead the retrieval team successfully was a sight I haven't seen similar to since before Tyger Pax."

"Why did you isolate yourself after the events back then?"

I dodged a right hook before he answered, "After the Allspark was launched, I noticed a change in you. You were not the same mech I followed into battle. I still believed in your cause, but I wanted no part in the disaster I saw you heading toward. Before I left, you had stopped listening to advice that didn't align with your thoughts. So, while you still seemed stable, I retreated to Cyteen."

I knew that I faltered in my goals, and almost failed my Decepticons in the process. It still surprises me that I did not lose many faithful soldiers in the process. However, since Scavenger brought up his time away from our forces, now seemed like an opportune moment to segway into my next question. "Speaking on your time away, what can you tell me about Dunce?" To my surprise, Scavenger faltered slightly at my mention of Dunce. So, I pulled back to give the mech a nano to gather himself. What was so unusual about the mech's situation that it would throw the likes of Scavenger off? "What do you know about the mech?"

When Scavenger did not reset himself to spar, I realized he must need to pause for this information. "I met Dunce when I broke into an Autobot holding facility on Cyteen. Was trying to find out information about how the war was progressing and I wanted to know what that facility was used for. Cyteen was neutral in our fight but allowed both sides to set up different facilities on their planet, for a price."

Yes, and that outrageous cost was the reason we did not have a holding on the planet. "I'm aware of that. What was the facility used for?"

"Mainly surplus storage. Lots of energon and cheap weapons. However, I noticed that the logs registered a prisoner in the holding cells. However, it didn't list a faction in association with the said prisoner. The Autobots usually avoided bringing in neutrals for questioning just in case they angered the other citizens of that race. When I came upon Dunce's cell, he looked more offline than online. The youngling was unconscious so I broke him out and traveled with him, treating him on the way. Once he was feeling better, I tried asking about his past. He was very reluctant to answer. It took me right up until we entered this solar system for him to answer anything. He did tell me that he had been living with another bot, wouldn't give me a name or gender."

"So, I need to make sure that I keep an optic on the mech, and I need to have Hook run a deeper medical scan sooner than he wanted to. With the kind of damage you are describing, I want a trained medic to take a look at him." This was not what I wanted to hear about the mech. I would have to also avoid giving the mech access to the servers without another of my Decepticons with him.

"That was all he told me, yet the mech did slip something I don't think he meant to say," Now I was listening again. "He made a casual mention about Crystal City, more specifically about the Mitril Mine. I think the mech is from the area, if not the city itself." That was something that could be used to backtrack the mech's history. I would have Soundwave start that. "There is something else bothering you my Lord, isn't there?"

"Just one other subject," I admitted to the mech as we returned to our sparring positions. Once we got our fighting rhythm back, I finished answering him. "It has to do with Pandimala,"

"Ah, the mystery femme I have yet to meet,"

I nodded. "Yes. This started back when she first transformed from her previous human form and into the femme now known as Pandimala. At times, my spark seems to either skip beats or increase in pace when she speaks, or when she looks toward me in certain ways. I feel pride in her actions, no matter how small of a victory they are. At first, I thought it was from the loyalty she shows constantly. However, now I am not so sure."

Scavenger nodded, though I was sure that I noticed a knowing look cross his faceplate. However, since I was not completely confident in that assessment, I held back in asking about that look. "I would have to meet the femme first, Lord Megatron, to see what it might be like with my optics. There are too many choices that could cause this reaction from you. And I would like to request that I not meet her until I can meet her in the metal. That will save me from misreading her soliform and giving you false information."

I knew that look. The mech had an idea of what was causing these reactions. However, without proof about that, I would have to let him have his way for now. "Very well." While I did not receive an answer to my last question, I was leaving this talk with more information than I had before. Unfortunately, this also meant that I was leaving with more questions as well. The mystery that was Dunce and his past along with the mystery of these reactions I kept having around Pandimala.

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

I let out a breath as I sat in the middle of one of the training rooms. Unfortunately, most of the Autobots were in the base, for a change, and this room seemed to be the only one that I could go to where I wasn't being jumped by Paul and Miko. Honestly, I was slightly surprised that they hadn't gotten to me yet.

However, that was yet another talk that I was not ready to have. Of course, I did want to have peace, and I needed to set aside my reservations to do that. So, here I was, in my soliform in their training room. I figured that, eventually, somebot would come around here to train and I could try and grow closer to them. With the number of bots here at the base and the limited number that I trusted, I felt sure that I would be meeting with someone with whom I could train. If it happened to be Paul or Miko, however, it would be easy to deactivate my soliform and return to my chassis, which was locked in my room.

But, until one of those situations happened, I would continue to sit here and relax. Breathing exercises were something that Starscream...and the rest of the seekers for that matter, suggested that I do to help calm my nerves. There were a few tricks that they had given me to keep from panicking again. Between them and the few bots here that I trusted, I was sure that I would not be having another attack. I couldn't afford one. The medics on both sides were worried about my health since my wings popped, and the Autobot medics had another reason to worry. When Zarron dragged me to Ratchet when he discovered my cannons weren't being taken care of, they also found out that I was reducing my rations of energon. I knew that the Autobots didn't have the mines that the Decepticons had, and, while they had fewer bots to care for, that little energon was still spread thin. According to the terrifying wrench-wielding medic, my choice to limit myself was not the correct one to make.

And, ever the strategist, I knew that getting the medic angry at me was not a good idea.

The sound of footsteps behind me had me darting up from my sitting position, on guard from whoever this was.

"Whoa, calm down femme. Didn't mean to make you jump." I lowered my guard for the most part when I saw that it was Smokescreen's soliform. I recognized his vocals to put that together with the soliform that I hadn't seen before. There were still a few of those among the Autobots that I had not seen but this would make one less.

Of course, there was the fact that this was Smokescreen. I knew how he was in the original timeline. That Smokescreen I wouldn't be so at ease with. However, I hadn't talked to this one as much and, from the little I had seen and experienced, he deserved a chance to show me how he truly was.

Even though his introduction to me didn't go smoothly, he seemed to accept once things were explained to him. So we would see where this would go. "Were you wanting to do some training or were you looking for me?"

"A little of both actually," He answered me with a shrug. "Being a triple-changer, you have to have some moves that I don't know and, since you used to be human, there has to be something that transferred over. I would love to have a spar with you to see what you can do. So, what do you say?" He then held up his soliform's servos in a way that invited a strike, "Want to go for a little rumble?"

Well, I had promised Michael that I would use sparring to get closer to some of the other bots that hadn't interacted with me much. So, I held up my own soliform hands in response. "Sure. Set a timer for two clicks. Let's see how long you last. On your mark."

He nodded and was quiet for a nano before he started to countdown. I felt my soliform tense as this fight drew closer. Hopefully, this wouldn't end in me in the med-bay again.

"Go!" He said before lunging at me.

As we started to exchange blows, I noticed a surprised, yet excited look on his faceplate. Of course, I felt my own systems circulating with the excitement I was feeling. While this was nothing like some of the spars I had taken part in on the Nemesis, it was definitely a respectable spar. A few times, I had to quickly recover, or fear being overridden by the mech in front of me.

And while the mech seemed thrown off by my faster speed at first, he picked up on it quickly enough for it to not be his undoing. Definitely not bad. Seemed like I may have just found myself a new training partner. Between him, Wheeljack, and Zarron, I would get a nice variety of training. While Wheeljack and Smokescreen had similar builds, their fighting styles were markedly different. While Wheeljak seemed to have a lot of experience in fighting, and that showed when he defended himself, Smokescreen was inexperienced enough to experiment with different tactics that most experienced bots wouldn't think of trying. A few of the hits that he threw my way seemed closer to human techniques than I had seen used before.

Finally, the timer went off signaling the end of our spar. We both backed away from each other and, while I clearly kept the upper servo through the fight, Smokescreen did put up a respectable fight. "Frag femme. Didn't expect you to move that fast. Gotta be the fastest big bot I've ever fought."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you calling me fat?"

It was comedic how fast his soliform's eyebrows shot up. "No! Not at all! Just tall and well built." He was panicking, though that was a decent save.

So, I decided to give it to him. "All right then. Good round though, in all seriousness. We'll have to do this again sometime." And I found myself truly meaning that. While I was a Decepticon through and through, hopefully, we could accomplish peace so it didn't matter what side you supported. I was starting to find some Autobots that were just as accepting as the Decepticons had been to me.

"So, want to take a walk to the hub?" Smokescreen motioned to the entryway of the training room. "I wouldn't mind hanging out in my soliform for a little longer. Might help me get a better feel for what the humans go through."

Well, that wasn't a bad idea. Plus, any help that I could give the Autobots to fix what Paul allowed to set in couldn't hurt, even if it was in a newer bot to Earth. "Sure. Make sure to keep an eye out around you though. As humans, we risk going squish if we get under any of you."

As we started to walk to the hub, however, I felt worried. Thanks to the cylinder that we recovered, I knew that the Decepticon soliforms were more advanced than those that the Autobots had. If one of them got squished, from what I understood of the old program, the program would sizzle out and the bot would return. That wouldn't likely happen with my soliform. It would go squish, artificial blood most likely spraying, and then I would be giving up an advantage that the Decepticons currently had on the Autobots that they didn't know about. Slag.

I was going to have to be more careful.

Once the two of us entered the main room, I saw Raf up in the human area and figured that we could go and talk with him for a bit. So, I lead the way up the stairs before looking to see what Raf was doing.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?" Smokescreen asked before I could.

"Homework," Figures. "I'm taking a three-week communication elective and my teacher wants me to come up with an ice-breaker."

"What's an ice-breaker?" Smokescreen asked, looking very confused.

While it would be funny to watch the Autobot keep looking confused, I decided to take pity on him for Raf's sake. "It's a kind of game that you play with a group of people, especially people you have just met, to get to know them and break the proverbial 'ice' that might make talking to them awkward." I then turned to Raf. "What kind of ice-breaker are you looking at?"

"I'm not sure, that's the problem. I'm not very good at this stuff."

I smiled at that. "Then you're in luck. We can help you with this."

Raf's 1st P.O.V.

I laughed as Smokescreen's soliform, who was called Sean Macey, said that he would rather jump off a Decepticon warship flying high in the air than fight five scraplets. "Wait, why would you jump out of the ship?" It really confused me why he would risk dying due to the impact between him and the ground or just deal with five scraplets. Yeah, I knew what they could do to bots, but there would only be five of them.

Smokescreen shivered a little. "For me, it's the thought of those fraggers tearing into my chassis. Even with only five of them, they could get into places under my armor that I can't get to. Then, I would have a slow and painful offlining. At least jumping off the ship, if I don't grab a bridge to catch me first, my offlining has a higher chance of being quick."

It was Pandimala's shiver at Smokescreen's description that caused me to look at her. Why was she shivering? Unless the Decepticons had a scraplet infestation as we had, then she wouldn't have any experience with them. When she saw that I was looking at her, she seemed to guess what I was thinking about. "There was an incident back when I was human. Ended up in the Amazon with a couple of other bots from up there and I had a run-in with a piranha. Took out a chunk of my leg." I noticed that she seemed to subconsciously rub her leg as she said that. "Just imagine getting torn apart by a piranha and not being able to get rid of it. I'd jump given the chance every single time."

I didn't know firsthand what a piranha bite was like, but I had seen videos online to know that if that was what really happened when scraplets went after the bots, then I knew what I would choose. "Yeah, I would do that too then."

Pandimala's soliform then smiled. "So, my turn. Would you rather prank Arcee or Optimus?"

My face fell at that as I thought. I wouldn't really want to prank either of them. Optimus was really nice and it would be mean to prank him. Arcee...well she might actually try and kill someone if she was pranked.

"Oh, Arcee in a nano. Can you imagine painting her black and attaching fake petro-rabbit ears to her? I think I could offline and be happy right after."

"Think about doing anything like that and you might just find out Smokescreen,"

The three of us jumped to see Arcee, in her actual bot form, glaring at the three of us. Whoops. Guess I didn't notice them come in. Standing next to her were Elita and Chromia and, while Elita looked neutral on Pandimala's subject, Chromia kept looking at Arcee with a small smile on her faceplate.

"Why don't you three join us?" Pandimala asked while motioning to where we were sitting.

"What are you doing?" Elita asked.

"Helping Raf with his studies. For his communication class, they are working on sample ice-breakers, and, while obviously, he can't use the exact questions that we are using now, he can change them when it comes time for him to present his idea to the class." Pandimala answered her back, never breaking eye contact with the femme.

"Can't. I have some training to do," Arcee stated before walking off.

Chromia immediately transformed and soon, her soliform joined us on the platform. "I've got nothing to do for now. Ironhide is on patrol with Cliffjumper so I am open."

Elita smiled at us, which caused me to smile back, before she said, "I can join you for a few clicks. However, I will have to leave soon to meet with Optimus. He and I have some things we have been wanting to talk about." She then transformed before her soliform joined us as well.

So, the five of us sat down and, once I explained the rules, we decided to have Chromia start the new round. "So, would you rather drink a cube of Ultra Grade in a room full of sharkticons or skip a checkup with the medics?"

When Raf looked a little confused, I decided to use some human equivalents. "That would be drinking moonshine in a tank of sharks or skipping out on a mandatory physical and checkup, Raf." Chromia looked surprised at my interruption at first until I spoke Raf's name.

This exercise might do more than Raf some good. With the new bots, and not so new bots, interacting with Raf on a casual social level they can start to see that Cybertronian terminology sometimes went over the humans' heads. But, there were equivalents that they could use if they made sure to look into them.

Raf nodded at my translation before he answered. "Definitely skip out on the physical. I won't end up dead then." Fair enough for Raf, since humans didn't have easy-access weapons they could get at a click's notice.

But, I had a feeling that I knew what the other answers would be...and they might surprise him again.

"Oh, definitely the Sharkticons. I'm not messing with the medics." Smokescreen quickly answered with a shiver.

Elita nodded. "The same for me. Medics work hard and they get very upset if we miss." I noticed her shiver. "Very upset."

"Oh going with the Sharkticons for sure," Chromia answered her own question. "Even under the influence of Ultra Grade, I could get some training in, and the medics wouldn't be mad at me for skipping so they would most likely patch me up."

I didn't hesitate with my answer. "Sharkticons. I've definitely learned to not make medics angry. They are not friendly when you've done something stupid that they said not to do. Tried skipping one once though." They all looked at me in surprise. "I was right on the edge of a breakthrough in some self-training exercises and didn't want to take a break to go and see Knockout. I figured it wouldn't be that bad." I then stopped at shivered.

"What happened then?" Raf asked.

I gulped as the memory came back to my helm. "Both Knockout and Hook barged into my training room and dragged me to the med bay. They then strapped me down and did a full physical before forcing me into recharge. And, when I woke up, they put me on medical restrictions for twenty-four cycles...hours. None of the training rooms would open up with my code and the others wouldn't open them for me since they had heard about my restrictions. No one wants to get on the bad side of medics."

Before anyone else could go, though, heavy pedesteps drew our attention to the main entry. Optimus was walking toward us and that didn't seem unusual. However, when Pandial's soliform suddenly went tense, I looked closer. Following behind Optimus were Paul and Miko. This wasn't good. Every time they had been with Pandimala lately, they only wanted to convince her to talk to them in private.

Before all of this, it probably started about the time that Paul and Miko had gotten stuck in that shadow zone, the two of them were always working together on something or another here at the base. I wasn't oblivious, despite only being twelve and a half, and I could tell that they seemed to know more about what was going on than everyone else. Hell, they had been freaking about Wheeljack when his brain was in danger of being overtaken by the synthetic energon formula before he even started showing signs. But, it wasn't my business. If they want to keep secrets, then that was on them.

But, I was worried about what they wanted with Pandimala, and why Pandimala was reluctant to talk to them. I wanted to ask her, but it was her own business. I shouldn't just go on and ask her what was wrong. They would work it out eventually. That's what adults did...right?

"Pandimala," Optimus spoke toward her soliform. "Paul and Miko have asked me to mediate a compromise that will allow you to talk,"

"Fine," We all jumped and looked at Pandimala's soliform when she said that. As she stood up, I could see that she looked really nervous, despite how calm she was acting. "I'll talk to them, in one of the abandoned rooms alone. However, I reserve the right to leave the conversation at any time and, if I do, they are not allowed to approach me to talk in private again."

But, I could see that she was slightly shaking. Whatever this conversation was about, it worried her a lot. And given how strong she was now, then it probably should worry me too.

Elita's soliform disappearing, and the femme walking in a nano later, reminded me that she said that she had her own business with Optimus to talk about.

When Pandimala started moving down the stairs, I watched as she met up with Paul and Miko before the three of them walked toward one of the hallways. She looked tense. Maybe I should have offered to go with her? But, what could I do that she couldn't?

"She'll be fine," Smokescreen laughed as soon as the three of them were out of sight. "Never knew anybot to offline from a conversation."

"Right," I responded before Chromia started to think of another question, to make up for Elita missing her turn. But, even as we started to answer, I glanced back at the hallway. I wasn't sure why, but something didn't feel right about this. Hopefully, Pandimala would be okay.

Knockout: *stuck with back to berth* We are never going to mention this to anybot.

Starscream: *back stuck to knockout* Never...except for the medics so we can get out of here.

Knockout:...True.

*both see a flash out of the corner of their optics*

Both: They are offline.

AN: And here is the extremely late update for this chapter. I'm sorry for everyone who has been waiting for this. It honestly was caused by me being conflicted about how the ending should go there with Paul and Miko. In the end, I felt it was time for a talk. But, this conversation should be very interesting, to say the least.

Until next time, here are the names of the next chapters:

Chapter 45: Possibility

Chapter 46: The Right Steps

Chapter 47:...(Find out next time!)

...And I just realized doing the chapter part that there are only 7 more chapters of season 2...Two major points happen during this time so hopefully, chapters come out a little faster. And, due to this, outside of one more chapter for Glad you Called (because I really want to get a chapter out for that) I will probably move focus to this story period.

Until next time though, please leave a review, either to review or say hi! I do appreciate them, though it might take me a while to respond to them. Also, if you haven't voted on it yet, please vote for the poll on my profile. With this story getting closer to season 3 (and with how short season 3 truly is) then that story is coming faster than I thought. Once that story starts, the poll will be closed. Alrighty, that should be all now. Until next time, TTYL! *sailing on the high seas on Sea of Thieves*