Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.

Lord Megatron: *sighs* Do I want to know what you three are up to?

Rumble: *shakes helm* Probably not. Just make sure you aren't in this hallway for the next...twenty-four cycles.

Lord Megatron: *shakes helm* Very well. *walks away* At least I won't be in it this time.

Authoress: *who is on his servo* Same here. *sighs in relief*

Chapter 47: First Date

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

Slag it. I did this to myself but I still screwed up royally. Now, I was in this situation. What situation? Well, I kept using nap times to use my soliform to go to the bar and that was going to start looking suspicious if it wasn't to some bots already. The problem I was now having was how to get my soliform to the bar for the meeting Lord Megatron wants to have with me when I couldn't put suspicion on myself. Slag this all to the pits.

But, I had to be careful. While I was using Raf to help heal some of the rifts on the Autobot side, the Autobots weren't at a point where I could have them start getting suspicious of me. They had no idea that I was still in communications with the Decepticons regularly. And I was going to make sure that, for the most part, it stayed like that. While I wasn't giving major Autobot secrets, not that I knew many. Well, outside of the base location but I knew that from my past life.

"You're looking stressed femme," I glanced up to see Wheeljack standing by the hallway to the rooms, a smirk on his faceplate. "Do I need to let the medics know you need another exam?"

A growl slipped out of my vocals as I narrowed my optics at the still-smirking mech. "Don't you fragging dare." I then shook my helm and returned to a normal tone. "I'm just fine. Plus, we all just had exams after they found that key in Smokescreen." Yeah, the medics had decided to do deep scans of all of us and the key had popped up on Smokescreen's scan. After use of the phase shifter, the Autobots had retrieved their second key.

But, back to might be able to help me out…

He must have seen the smile come on my faceplate because he suddenly looked worried. "Pandimala...what's with that look?"

I gave him the biggest smile I could manage, which from the look of his reaction scared him even more before I asked him what I wanted to. "Wheeljack, is there any way you could drive my soliform to a local bar? I made some friends before I ended up on the Nemesis and they haven't seen me in a while. They've been texting my old number like crazy wondering about me. It would also be nice just to visit them for a bit."

Wheeljack let out a vent. "As long as the big bot agrees. He was finishing some training with Elita and should be coming here soon." He then gave me a long look. "Just don't make me regret this."

Well, he was helping me do this, so I would let him get away with that last bit. "Never." I then immediately sent a private message to Lord Megatron, explaining the ruse to get me to the bar, since I couldn't keep using the naps as I had been. I just had a thought that the medics might think something is wrong and I was not sitting through another exam.

Ratchet scared me more than I wanted to admit.

The sounds of heavy pedesteps caused me to look toward the hallway that led to the training room and, sure enough, Optimus and Elita were walking out toward us. Once the leader looked up and saw me looking toward him, he stopped and looked between me and Wheeljack. "Pandimala, is there something that you needed?"

Immediately, I nodded. "I was hoping to get permission for Wheeljack to take my soliform out to visit some friends of mine I made at a bar before I ended up on the Nemesis. The Decepticons showed me how to connect my old cell number to my comm and they have been texting me non-stop about seeing me to make sure that I am alright. I did kinda just vanish on them."

Optimus looked between the two of us. Wow, I felt so trusted right now. "Come on Optimus. It might do them both some good to go out and interact with Pandimala's old friends." Elita surprisingly came to my defense. She sent me a nod and I realized that she was trying to help me out. So, I sent her a small nod back with a smile.

"Very well," Optimus finally agreed. "However, remember you will be in disguise and cannot reveal what we are. Keep to human terminology and topics that humans would follow." Well duh. It was obvious that the Autobots had done little interactions among the humans, outside of those who knew about them. Maybe once I started seeing the Autobots working better together I would have Raf suggest that they start going out in their soliforms and interacting with humans more. While they wouldn't be able to do as much as I could with mine, given that we Decepticons had the data from the cylinder and our completed project, they could do little day trips.

"Yes! Thank you!" I practically yelled as I sprinted to my room to turn on my soliform. Once I locked my room, I transformed into my tank mode before doing just that. I then ran down the hall and, when I arrived, I saw that Wheeljack was already transformed into his alt mode, his own soliform standing next to his driverside door.

I wasted no time in running to the other side and, once I opened his door, I sat down and put on my seatbelt. Wheeljack, following suit with his soliform, immediately burned rubber before making his way down the tunnel. Once we were outside, and a little ways away from the base, I figured I had better get to know his soliform. "So, what's your soliform's name?"

Wheeljack's soliform turned to me and smirked. "Warren Jones. So, can you tell me about these people we are about to be meeting?"

Well, it would be best to get some names out of the way to make the talks go smoother. "Sure. I knew a good bit of the staff too. James, Bill, and Oscar are the barkeepers. Pretty nice guys but they take their jobs seriously, and a good thing too. Then, the bouncers, Chris, Shen, and Jason. Shen can be a comedian at times but all three do good at their jobs. Then the waiters. Davy, Will, Rin, and Fin. As you can probably guess, Rin and Fin are twins and they love teasing people about which one is which. Sometimes, Davy has to get them under control but they are sweet guys for the most part. Then, every Friday night,"

"So not tonight," Wheeljack interrupted me.

I nodded. "Exactly. Every Friday night they have a DJ come in who goes by the stage name DJ Con. Says he chose that to be a con artist to steal all the hearts on the dancefloor." I let out a laugh at that. Con was very excited to get to perform once a week and swore he would keep things moving when he was there. And so far, he had done just that. The crowds on Friday nights, from what the other bots told me, were crazy when Con got on the stage.

"So, what about any regulars. I'm guessing we aren't going so you can meet with just the staff." Warren asked.

"Right," I answered. But, now I was in a slight pickle. Friends didn't address each other formally and that was the ruse for this trip. I was going to have to be very careful with how I addressed Lord Megatron's soliform around him. "The one person who I am sure will be there is Mark. Full name Mark Truman. He's there a lot just to relax and I love talking to him. Stewart might be there as well. He was the one that introduced me to the bar in the first place. Bumped into him on the street by accident and we got to talking. Oh, and his full name is Stewart Scarlett. Outside of them, I'm not sure who else might be there."

And as the bar came in sight, I suddenly found myself hoping that not too many others would be there. Wheeljack might get suspicious if there were a lot of guys there whose soliforms might remind him of the Decepticons. As we pulled into the parking lot, I did notice Vox's and Knockout's alt modes. Thank the Well that they thought about having rides to throw Wheeljack off.

But, as we stopped and got out, I noticed that Warren seemed to stare at their alt modes intensely. "Nice rides they have for around here." His tone sounded suspicious.

Slag, I had to divert this. Looking at his alt mode, an idea came to mind. "To be fair, all of the Autobots got their alt modes, from what Raf told me, from around here and scanning cars. So, that means that there are a few nice cars in the area."

After a few tense seconds, his shoulders relaxed. "Fair enough," Phew. Crisis averted for now. "Plus, the yellow Prius kinda takes away from that vibe."

Wait...yellow Prius? I looked around and frowned slightly when I saw Michael's ride was here too. What was he doing here? Just how often did Michael show up at the bar? "Oh, that's Michael. Met him at another bar I was trying out and he helped me out of a pickle. We've been friends ever since. Didn't think he would be here today."

"Does Michael have a last name?" Wheeljack asked as we walked up to the doors.

"You'll have to find out for yourself," I smirked before turning to the bouncers, who were Chris and Jason for right now. "Hey guys, long time no see!"

Thankfully, the message that I hadn't been here in a while got around to them because they both smiled. "Lizzie! We thought you dropped off the face of the planet! You been doing alright?" Jason asked.

"As well as I can be," I answered them honestly before motioning to Warren. "This is one of my friends, Warren Jones. Can we go inside?"

Chris rolled his eyes at me. "'Can we go inside?' Of course, you can girl. Go have some fun." He then opened the doors and the two of us walked inside.

"Frag, you weren't kidding that they were missing you femme," Warren whispered to me once the door shut.

I let out a scoff. "You haven't seen anything yet." I then walked into the main room and waved at everyone there. "Hey, guys!" From the quick look I did, besides the staff, it looked like Knockout, Starscream, Michael, Vox, and Lord Megatron were all here. Thankfully, that was all. Though, with Michael here that still might make things complicated.

"Lizzie!" John, Vox's soliform, practically yelled my name before running up to us and crushing me in a hug. Well, Vox got the haven't-seen-in-a-while greeting down pact.

"John...can't...breathe!" I let out as the soliform seemed to try and crust me.

I laughed as John put me in a headlock before mussing up my hair a bit. "Can't blame me, Lizzie. You haven't been around in ages and I got worried."

Letting out a sigh of defeat, I held up my hands. "Fine, I'll give you that." I then turned to Warren, who was standing kind of awkwardly behind me. Guess I should do some introductions. "Guys, this is Warren Jones. He's one of the friends I met where I am staying right now. Warren," I then motioned to the soliforms, and one man, in front of me. "These are John Roberts," I motioned to Vox's soliform, who had joined the others, "Kalan Oliver," I motioned to Knockout's soliform. Then, I pointed to Starscream's soliform. "Stewart Scarlett," After him, I motioned to Michael. "Michael Lincoln," And finally, I motioned to Lord Megatron's soliform. "And finally, this is Mark Truman." Whoa. Saying his first name took more effort than I thought. Hopefully, the talks could go smoother otherwise I might be in trouble.

"Nice to meet some of Lizzie's friends," Warren said to them all.

Mark then walked up to me with a smile before putting one of his arms around my shoulder, which I was not ready for so I blushed slightly before he spoke. "And we are happy to meet one of her friends at where she is now. You've all been hogging her. We've missed her a lot."

It was hard to let out the laugh, given the blush still on my face, that I did before I spoke. "And I missed you all too."

Mark let out a laugh, his arm still around my shoulder before he turned to Warren. "You don't mind if I go talk to Lizzie alone for a bit do you?" He then motioned to the VIP room up the stairs. "We had a bet between the two of us, a personal one, and I want to see if I was right."

Warren looked worried about that for a click but, after that, he smiled. "No problem. I'll get to know you later. You two have fun." Wait, what was that look that Wheeljack just sent me? It looked...smug. I didn't like that at all.

But, it would allow me to go and talk to Lord Megatron in private. So, I smiled and nodded at that mech. "Thanks, Warren." I then allowed Lord Megatron, his arm still around me, to lead me upstairs.

Once we were inside the room, Lord Megatron led me to one of the couches and I sat down before he moved to the other side. "So, the reason I called you in on such short notice was to inform you of a few things."

"Yes, My Lord," I responded. He nodded and then went into what happened the other solar on the mission that Zarron, Arcee, and Smokescreen had gone on. As planned, the Autobots had been able to retrieve the key from Frost, who came out of that confrontation with minimal injuries thankfully, and in total, we only lost two drones, Shenali and Darius, and that was because they got overconfident against Arcee. "So, the Autobots should be a little easier to deal with for now?" I asked just to make sure I was following correctly.

Lord Megatron nodded at that. "Yes, though we did not come out of the confrontation empty-servoed."

Wait...the only relic that was supposed to be there was the key. Was there something else there as well? "We got a relic as well my Lord?" I felt hope that we did. It would look strange if the Decepticons gracefully accepted a defeat with only one relic in play. But, having two would make things even easier for me.

He nodded. "Yes. Thanks to Frost, we found a hidden chamber behind where the key was and we were able to retrieve the Daystorm Ax." I remembered reading about that ax in my studies with the others. One of many weapons made after the age of the original Thirteen Primes to counteract the weapons of the Primes. I didn't remember its specs, but the fact alone that we had it was great news. "It has been proven to be a battle-match against the Star Sabre. So be aware of that in your interactions with the Autobots."

"Yes, Lord Megatron," I nodded my helm, though I had a smile on my face.

"Also, you may not be aware, but we retrieved the second key for us this solar. The Autobots didn't look happy, but since we need all four keys to activate the Omega Lock, they should not cause you too much trouble."

I nodded at that. "That is especially since they found the key inside of Smokescreen during a medical check-up they decided to do on all of us."

Lord Megatron frowned at that. "Pity. I was hoping to use the mech as an excuse as to why we would know where their base is if the need arose. Oh well. There are other options for us to use."

"Including my placement in their base, my Lord," I added.

He nodded. "Precisely." He then seemed to look over my shoulder, and I realized that he was caught in thought. "It is strange. Before I was aware of your presence on the Nemesis all those solars ago, I would not have imagined actively trying to make sure the Autobots were prepared for peace."

"I understand the feeling my Lord," I said, a smile creeping on my face. "In all honesty, while the Decepticons hold my loyalty, I was terrified back then and never imagined that I would be here. And I'm not even talking about my transformation. I didn't know what the next moments of each solar held for me. Whatever it was that caused me to end up on the Nemesis threw me completely for a loop. I never imagined myself, back then, being able to do so much for you."

"You have been a gift to the Decepticon cause, Pandimala. You have brought many of my troops together more than they were in the past, you have new views that have allowed the Decepticons to grow as a faction in ways I never believed possible." I felt a strange pull at my spark as my Lord spoke like this. "And through all of the changes that you have faced, you haven't lost sight of what makes you unique. I am proud that you are one of my Decepticons."

Was it hot in here or was it just me?

"Th...Thank you, Lord Megatron." What else was I supposed to say to that? This was not what I was expecting during our talk this solar.

Lord Megatron standing caused me to stand, and he walked over before putting his arm back over my shoulder, causing me to blush more. "Now, I believe that the Autobot that brought you, Wheeljack I believe, might start to worry if I keep you to myself for too long, given our cover. Give a good show."

I finally pushed down my blush and nodded with a smile. "Of course, my Lord."

Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V.

I laughed as Michael told me one of the stories about when he interacted with Lizzie. That femme, even as a human, was so oblivious at times. I needed to test this out when we got back to the base. If she was able to completely miss the fact that there had been a person hiding with a bucket of water for the challenge that Michael had just described to me, then she might be easier to mess with than I thought.

Of course, I was surprised that I was able to talk to the humans here, to begin with. When that Mark fellow had first asked to talk with Lizzie alone, I had wanted to say no. I didn't want to let her out of my sight since this was a sort of test from Optimus about how well we could do blending in with the humans. But, I was stuck in a corner. They were good friends before and it would be weird if I didn't let them go talk alone. But frag, watching Lizzie go upstairs with Mark had made me all sorts of nervous.

And that was when Stewart had stepped in and assured me that they would be fine up there. Pandimala had told me that Stewart was the first of this group that she met, and that implied some trust between them, so I had nodded and started some chit-chat with them all. Even though Stewart had been interesting to talk with, it was Michael who drew me into a conversation. The man was able to have a discussion with me like it was nothing, and I took that as a challenge. After the serious conversations, though, we started talking about Lizzie. Everyone in the bar, both workers and not, had stories to tell about her. Some serious situations, but for the most part, it was just them hanging out with Lizzie and having fun. Though I was glad that Stewart had let slip that she liked to do pranks. That femme had already proved that she could move quietly, and now I had something to watch out from her.

Hopefully, she didn't find anybot in the base who had the same hobby, or the base was going to get a lot more active.

The door opening to the VIP section caused me to look up to see Lizzie and Mark walking down. Mark still had his arm wrapped around Lizzie's shoulders and the two of them were laughing, though at what I wasn't sure. Lizzie looked very relaxed with him and I barely contained my smirk. That was just another bit of proof that I needed. While Lizzie seemed friendly with everyone here, she seemed to be just a little closer to Mark.

At first, she had looked nervous when he had come up to her and put his arm around her. I had been tempted to just take her back to base right there. But, then she seemed to relax in his hold as the nanos had passed and, by the time they were walking upstairs, she had seemed to be pretty calm about it. As I thought more about it and heard the stories about Lizzie and Mark that I heard from the humans here, I realized that there might have been something more between Lizzie and Mark, back when she was human.

Now, seeing them coming down completely relaxed around each other and laughing, I realized that it must have been from the time they were apart that Lizzie had been nervous before. That, and maybe some wayward feelings she hasn't admitted to yet? I would ask her on the way back to the base.

"Good talk?" I asked the two of them as they joined us.

Mark smirked at that. "I think it went pretty well. What do you think Lizzie?"

She in turn let out a laugh with a big smile. "It went great! I've missed you so much." I smirked when she suddenly blushed and stammered. "I...I've missed all of you guys so much." Nail in the coffin. I wonder, with her obliviousness that I learned about from the guys here, if she even realized what she was feeling. "But, while I want to talk with all of you right now, Warren and I do have to get back to where we are staying. They tend to worry if we are gone like this for long periods." We then went around and said our goodbyes.

When I got to Michael, he seemed to study me for a click before saying, "Keep her safe there. She seems a little more hesitant since the last time we all saw her, despite how she is trying to act, and I don't like seeing that in her. She deserves better."

I nodded at that. "I'll keep an eye on her for you."

He smiled at that. "Perfect." He then held out his hand and I shook it with a smile. While I would tease the femme about this solar for as long as I could, I also knew the dangers she still faced at the base. Paul still seemed upset with her, which meant that Miko was in the same line as he was, and then there was Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar. I would keep an optic on her whenever I could. "Then I can't wait for our next meeting Warren."

"Same here."

Once all the goodbyes were done, Pandimala and I moved outside and, once we were in my alt mode, I hit the gas and made my way back to the base. "Thank you Wheeljack, for taking me to see them again. I missed them."

I had my soliform look at her and smirk. "I could tell. You especially seemed to miss that Mark fellow." Her soliform immediately blushed again and turned to my soliform. "Tell me, how did that date of yours go?"

"Eh?" She shrieked, her soliform's face now a very deep shade of red. "Wh...what are you talking about Wheeljack? That…that wasn't a date."

"Oh really?" I asked her. "Then tell me, what would you call two people, who while with friends, suddenly go off on their own to a private room. And I can bet you all just didn't talk about small things either." She stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth moving seemingly on its own up and down. Got her. She couldn't deny it.

Her face stayed red as she turned to face forward. "Let's...just get back to base." Oh yeah, she had it bad.

The rest of the ride to base was quiet, but I felt very accomplished. Even though I knew she used to be human, she never acted like she had any sort of social life outside of this. And now, I knew that she at least had a romantic interest. Oh, this was going to be fun. I had to make sure to take her to the bar each time. While that Mark fellow might not be there every time, I didn't want to miss any of their interactions.

Once we pulled into the base, Pandimala didn't waste a nano in deactivating her soliform. Once I got into the main room, I transformed and started laughing about the whole situation. Zarron, who was in there with Blaster, Eject, Rewind, and Raf, all looked at me like I was crazy. "Wheeljack, are you alright?"

I calmed down just enough to smile and answer them. "Oh yes. More than alright. Just found out something about Pandimala." Just the thought of her face when she couldn't argue back sent me into another round of laughter.

Starscream's 1st P.O.V.

I was sure that I was right.

Well, I was right a good amount of the time, but on this particular subject, I hadn't been positive. At least, not until that interaction at the bar. While our glorious leader might be oblivious to his feelings, I had seen them as clear as could be. When the Autobot had walked in next to Pandimala's soliform, I had seen the flash of jealousy flash across our leader's eyes. Then, after Pandimala had introduced our soliforms, and Michael, to Wheeljack's soliform, our leader had wasted no time in getting Pandimala alone to talk. While that in itself would not be very suspect, it was how he did it that caused me to believe I was right.

He walked up to her with a very relaxed smile and put his arm around her. Claiming her. Oh, he had it bad for our resident strategist. And from how the conversation after Wheeljack and Pandimala had left went, he had no idea of his feelings. I never thought I would find any subject that our Lord was oblivious about. Yet, this seemed to be it. The way he kept staring at her, both as they went to talk and when they came back down, it was obvious he had been focused solely on her.

Then, when we found out about all that they talked about, it was obvious that our leader was slowly starting to court Pandimala. Of course, it wasn't official yet. We all would have heard about an official request for courtship. But, both seemed to be slightly testing the waters that were their feelings.

"Starscream, you look like you are thinking about something," Speaking of our leader.

I turned, as did my trinemates who were with me, as Lord Megatron entered the rec room that we were using. Thankfully, we were alone so I could test out my theory a little.

Motioning to a seat in front of us, I invited our Lord to sit with us before I spoke, lazily moving my servo as I did. "Oh, just wondering how your date with Pandimala is going to change things."

He frowned at that. "It was not a date. We simply talked about what was happening."

Skywarp, who was on my right, smirked, "Is that all you talked about?"

"No, we also talked about how our pasts have led us to this point," Lord Megatron responded to my brother.

"Did the conversation get personal about that past?" Thundercracker piped in, looking at our leader.

Lord Megatron kept his frown as he looked between the three of us. "Yes, it did."

I smirked. "Now, I may be wrong, but that sounds like a date if I ever heard of one. You and Pandimala went off to talk alone about personal experiences and seem to have grown closer due to it. Then, you come out with your arm around her and can't keep your optics off her. That sounds like a date if I ever heard one."

As the nanos clicked on in silence after I said that, I knew that I had hit the target straight on. Perfect. Now, getting the two to tell each other would be a very different fight. But, at least I had gotten the thoughts rolling in our leader's processor on this side. I would have to talk with the Autobot next time he brought Pandimala to a meeting to see if he had noticed this as well and possibly recruit him in this mission. After all of the stellars that I had known Lord Megatron, and even after the solars that Pandimala had been in my existence, I knew that the two of them deserved to be happy. And even more, be happy with each other.

"I am going to my quarters. Make sure that I am not disturbed." Our leader finally responded before standing and, to my optics, moving slightly faster than normal out of the room. I sent a message to Soundwave to inform the troops that our leader was not to be disturbed.

Of course, getting the two to get to that point was going to be a pain. They had better make me a secondary sire to their first sparkling after all the work it was going to take. Both were hard-helmed and, at least with Pandimala, was oblivious to feelings that she wasn't used to. From her memories and what we knew of her, romance was something that Pandimala had no memories of.

"So," Skywarp started with a smile, "I'm guessing we have a new mission?"

I smirked and nodded. "Yes. We will have those two courting eventually, so I swear on my spark."

Wheeljack: *smirks* Oh, this is going to be good.

Pandimala: *frowns* What are you planning Wheeljack?

Wheeljack: *innocent look* Nothing for you to worry about Pandimala. Might want to go and touch up your cannons. Ratchet is about looking for something to do.

Pandimala: *panics* Slag. *runs out*

Wheeljack: *smirk returns* Now, to get you with that Mark fellow. Maybe those humans at the bar will help me out with this.

AN: And here is the next chapter for everyone! Yes, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Seems like love may be in the air and both sides have plans to get two certain bots to admit their feelings for each other. Oh, this is going to be so much fun! *looks at the upcoming chapters* Of course, things might not go as smoothly coming up. The next chapter should be calm, but the one after that is going to be anything but.

Speaking of the next chapters, here they are!

Chapter 48: Reactions

Chapter 49: Access Denied

Chapter 50:... (find out next time!)

And that is all I have for now. Please leave a review, either to review or say hi. I appreciate every one of them and I do try to respond to them all (Though I am mortal so give me a small break if I do end up missing one. Just know that I did love receiving your review if I do miss responding to it). Until next time (which may be soon) TTYL! *ready to be done with COVID*