Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Starscream: *suspicious* You are updating a lot, Authoress. You are building up to something, aren't you?

Authoress: *smirks* Of course I am. This section of the story is reaching a climax and I have been waiting for this since forever!

Thundercracker: *frowns* I don't like the sound of that.

Crumplezone: *nervous* Is it too late to run?

All other Decepticons: *nod*

Chapter 48: Reactions

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

"So, Wheeljack, how did you like hanging out at the bar the other solar?" I asked him as we stood, our soliforms next to each other. It was early morning on a weekday, so Raf, Miko, and Jack were all at school, and thankfully Paul had to fake leave to act like he had a company. Sucker. As for the rest of the base, most bots were either at the Autobot mines or on patrol, looking for more sources of energon. From what I knew, it was just Wheeljack, me, Optimus, and Sentinel here at the base. While having Sentinel here caused me soliform to shiver, I knew that Optimus and Wheeljack wouldn't let him do anything to my chassis.

But, back to Wheeljack. Outside of his insinuation, which while not true… not true, about my relationship with Lord Megatron, I didn't know how he got along with the soliforms, and Michael, back at Neutrality. Depending on how he responded to me now, I was going to ask Lord Megatron about bringing Wheeljack into the know about what we were planning with the Autobots and peace. Wheeljack seemed level-helmed enough to know why we were moving like we were with the Autobots and could be trusted with keeping the information about us to himself.

Of course, that would depend on how this conversation was going to go.

If he did have this conversation like I suspected he would, it would give us an inside bot in the Autobots to help with peace just in case I had to pull out for any reason. While the atmosphere here in base seemed to be, slowly, getting better, I wasn't going to take the chance that something didn't mess it up. I wouldn't even put it past Paul and Miko to purposefully cause trouble if it went away from what Paul wanted to happen here.

"It was pretty relaxing, surprisingly. After you and Mark went on your date," I slapped his arm at that. He promised he wouldn't bring that up again! Of course, Wheeljack just smirked at my response before continuing. "I got to talking to the guys there. Seemed to have their heads on right about what they think. That's especially pointed toward that Stewart fellow. He has a sharp brain in him. If it was a processor, then I would be trying to get him to join the Autobots. Bet he could figure out why the Decepticons have been acting so weirdly lately."

He noticed that the Decepticons were acting strangely? "What do you mean? How have they been acting strangely?"

"I'm not the only one who has noticed either. A few of us Autobots have realized that the Decepticons seem to be holding back. Take the mission in Egypt that Zarron went on with Arcee and Smokescreen. According to Zarron, it seemed like Megatron wanted us to get the key. The officers outside of Megatron who were there lagged after the fight started, allowing Arcee to get the relic. And even before that mission, it seems like the Decepticons have been holding themselves back. Honestly, gives my theory about what Buckethead is up to even more credibility."

Given his answer about how his talk at the bar went with the unknown to him, Decepticons...especially Starscream's soliform, I needed to know what his theory was. "So, what is your theory?"

Wheeljack stared at my soliform dead center in the eyes before his own soliform answered me. "I think ole' Megs is looking toward peace with us. But, not to my surprise, he has seen how fractured we are right now here on Earth with Optimus here and knows that we need some help getting to the table, so to speak. That would explain why the Decepticons seem to be holding back in our fights, don't actively go looking for our mines though they have the bot-power to do just that, and why he let us get that first key in Egypt. The others aren't completely sold on my theory, but they do recognize that I make a lot of good points."

Frag, Wheeljack was closer than I thought he was about what we were planning. Studying him, though, I realized that this was a good thing. Given his reaction to the soliforms at the bar and this theory, then I was sure he was the bot to test my theory on. But, I would need clearance from Lord Megatron for this.

So, while Wheeljack and I stood in silence, I sent a message to my Lord. "Lord Megatron, I believe that Wheeljack is open enough to be brought into our plans for peace, and about the truth about the soliforms at the bar. He seemed to interact with the soliforms at the bar very well, and he has a theory that is our plan for peace with the Autobots. He even recognizes that the Autobots aren't ready for peace yet. With your permission, I would like to implement this with Wheeljack this solar, as soon as possible if he is able.~Pandimala."

While I waited for my Lord's response to this possibly momentous occasion, I looked back at Wheeljack. "If that were true, would you be willing to meet with the Decepticons?"

He shrugged in return. "Sure, but I don't see Megatron just tossing a message for a visit with me."

As Wheeljack was answering, I received a response from my Lord. "Pandimala, if you believe that Wheeljack is of stable enough and open enough processor to accept what we will inform him of, without informing the other Autobots of what he learns, then you may bring him to the bar. I am currently there with Starscream and Skyquake. If the Autobot figured out so much of our plan, then he seems like the kind of mech who will accept what we are trying to accomplish.~Lord Megatron."

"But why are you asking so much about it?" He looked at me with a critical optic. "Don't think I haven't noticed your moves to get the Autobots here at base closer together. Not directly, no, but you have been pushing Raf to get closer to bots here at the base. Give them someone to rally behind." Slag he knew more than I thought he did.

"Hey, why don't you take me back to Neutrality?" I asked him. To him, it should be off-topic. But, in reality, I was going to be answering his question. Just not now.

"You're avoiding the question." Wheeljack assumed like I thought he would. But, he did let out a sigh and got onto his communicator. "Prime, is it alright if I take Pandimala back to that bar again?" He was quiet for a few nanos before he turned to me. "Prime said it was fine, given how well last time went. Your room locked?" I nodded before we both walked down as his alt mode drove out from where the rooms were.

"We are on our way, my Lord.~Pandimala" I sent to Lord Megatron as I got my seatbelt one. Wheeljack didn't waste any time and put the pedal to the metal and made his way out of the base.

As we moved through the desert, and toward this giant-aft test that I had set up, I felt nervous. What would happen if Wheeljack wasn't as open to what the Decepticons were planning as I thought he was? If that happened, then everything that I had been working toward, and Lord Megatron and been supporting me in, would crumble. Wheeljack would either have to be captured, which would ruin the atmosphere that I had worked on in the base, so he wouldn't tell the Autobots what we were planning, or I would have to be pulled out because my position would be compromised since Wheeljack would know that I was still completely loyal to the Decepticons. Right now, I'm sure most, if not all, of the beings at the base viewed me as an unwitting Decepticon who they were saving. Outside of Paul and Miko, that would change instantly if this meeting didn't go well.

When we finally pulled up to the bar, I wasted no time in getting out and making my way to the doors. Wheeljack let out a laugh behind me that caused me to flinch slightly. "In that much of a hurry to see your boyfriend?"

I froze on the spot and felt the heat rise to my cheeks faster than a blaster shot. "Th...that's not it at all."

Wheeljack had caught up to me at that point and smirked as he passed me. "Sure it isn't." That...that...ARGH! That wasn't it at all. I wanted this meeting to start as quickly as it could. I mean, of course, I was excited to see Lord Megatron again. But that wasn't why I was trying to hurry inside. "You coming in or what?"

Looking up, I saw that Wheeljack was already at the open door, Chris and Jason working it again this solar. "Y...Yeah, I'm coming." I answered the mech before running up to join him, with a nod at Chris and Jason in greeting.

The two of us walked next to each other as we made our way toward the main bar. While Wheeljack didn't know it, this was a big moment. I was hinging my current plans for peace at this meeting. If it didn't go well, then it would mean even more fighting between the two factions. Both sides deserved peace and the Well be slagged I was going to give every spark beat I could to make sure that it happened.

"Lizzie, Warren; a pleasant surprise." Lord Megatron's soliform greeted us as we walked closer.

Warren leaned down next to me at that and whispered, "Well, lookie who is here?"

Frag it Wheeljack this was not the time to make me blush! I barely kept down my blush as we stopped in front of Mr. Truman. "Mark, we had some time so we figured we come by to talk for a bit." I then nodded toward Starscream's soliform. "Stewart, nice to see you." He nodded back to me.

I could feel the smugness coming off of Wheeljack. Oh, what he didn't know. "Always a pleasure to talk with you Lizzie, and I didn't get to speak to Warren here as much as I wanted to last time. But first, we need to make an introduction." Right, Skyquake's soliform wasn't here last time. "Warren Jones, allow me to introduce you to Sky Quince."

Wheeljack held out his soliform's hand to Sky. "Nice to meet you man,"

Skyquake's soliform nodded and took his hand in his. "Likewise, I'm sure."

Lord Megatron then took back over. "Now that introductions are finished, I believe it is time we move this conversation upstairs."

"Well, I'll go make myself comfortable at the bar while," Wheeljack started to say.

But, Lord Megatron cut him off. "Warren, I was hoping you would join Stewart, Sky, Lizzie, and myself upstairs. Like I said before, I didn't get much chance to speak with you last time and I wish to fix that mistake."

Wheeljack's soliform looked bummed for a nano before he nodded. "Sure thing boss man."

And with that, our group of five made our way upstairs to the VIP area, for possibly the most important meeting during this conflict on Earth. I was praying to every single deity that wasn't Primus, because like slag I wanted Paul to get wind of what was going on, that this meeting went alright. Once we all were in the room, I noticed Starscream's soliform discreetly lock the door, not that it would do much if Wheeljack decided to just deactivate his soliform and burn rubber away from here once we revealed the truth.

As we were sitting down, I noticed that Wheeljack seemed a little tenser than he was before. Guess he was finally catching on that this wasn't just a meet-up. We were taking a big risk with this reveal and it could go so bad so quickly. I was ready to start making some demon contracts to make sure that this meeting went smoothly. Hell, I was one more stressful click away from offering my spark to Unicron to do with as he pleased to make sure that this meeting went alright.

Thankfully, Starscream seemed to have my backplates on this one. "Oh let's just get everything out in the air. Wheeljack," Wheeljack jumped when Starscream's soliform said his name and immediately turned to me. "And no Pandimala didn't tell me your designation. I've known it for longer than she's been online Wrecker. You know who I am too if you use your processor like Pandimala says you have been."

Well, this wasn't how I would have started this talk. Wheeljack was half out of his seat, staring at Starscream as if his spark depended on it. Finally, after a few clicks of staring, his soliform's eyes widened at the seeker's soliform, who was sitting with one leg on top of the other and his hands clasped together. "Starscream." I could hear the tension in the Wrecker's vocals. Slag this wasn't good. I then watched as he stared at Skyquake's soliform before he said, "Skyquake," The soliform, in turn, gave the Wrecker one nod. Finally, Wheeljack turned to Mark. This time though, he didn't hesitate in realizing who it was. "Megatron."

Well, the good news was that Wheeljack hadn't just bolted from the meeting. The bad news was that the atmosphere of said meeting was so thick right now I could cut it with my digits. Slag it all, if this didn't go well I was so tearing Starscream a new one.

"And of course, you know Pandimala." Lord Megatron jumped in, finishing the introductions of all of us as to who we truly were. "We are taking a big risk in our plans meeting with you Wheeljack. However, Pandimala has faith that you will understand our plans and possibly even help us moving forward."

At that, Wheeljack seemed to pause as he studied Lord Megatron. Finally, after a long stretch of clicks, Wheeljack sat fully down and seemed to relax slightly. "So peace. You all are working for it?"

My Lord nodded once toward the Wrecker. "Yes. It has been slow-moving, for various reasons, but we Decepticons do wish for peace. While we are ready for this peace, however, it is obvious that most of your faction is not. And I did not need Pandimala in your base to figure this out. Even before her involvement, it was easy for all of us Decepticons to see how strained the cooperation is between the Autobots truly is."

Wheeljack seemed to be relaxing more and more as Lord Megatron continued to speak. But, he wasn't quite relaxed. "So, you just decided one solar that you were done fighting and wanted peace with us?"

"No," Lord Megatron responded to the Wrecker. "This was, at first, solely a project that Pandimala was working toward. She wished for the fighting between us to end, and put in the effort to show me that her goal was one that the Decepticons as a whole should be moving toward. So, we have refocused some of our efforts to help her complete her goals. We are hopeful that this peace will be possible eventually, possibly even soon,...however, there are complications."

Now, Wheeljack seemed like he was talking with a business associate as he leaned back. "The tension within the Autobot ranks. I won't insult us both and assume you don't know about it. While it has been getting better, slowly, since we found out that Pandimala used to be Lizzie, it still isn't the greatest. It'll only take one major incident to set everybot off again." He then took a glance at Lord Megatron with a knowing look. "Of course, us getting the Star Sabre and the first Omega Key helped a lot."

Lord Megatron smirked back at the Autobot. "That was the idea. With the Star Sabre, there was not much reason except for stressing you Autobots out that I would have needed to keep it, so it was easier to let go than you think. As for the Omega Key, as long as neither side acquires all four keys, then it will keep negotiations balanced. As far as our intelligence shows, there is only one key left in play, with you Autobots having two of them. For balance, it would be prudent for my Decepticons to retrieve it."

"Would it matter though? All it takes is one key missing for either side to heed what the other has to say." Wheeljack shot back.

"True." My Lord answered. "Then it shall be a competition as to who gets the last key." He then focused on the Wrecker. "From how this conversation is going, I wish to assume that you will assist us in our endeavors toward peace?"

There was silence as Lord Megatron and Wheeljack seemed to stare at each other's sparks through each one's optics. I did not like tense make-or-break situations...and this was one of those. Fraggity frag it! If the situation wasn't so serious, I would think that Wheeljack was doing this to me on purpose.

Finally, the Wrecker nodded. "Yeah, I'm on board. Not on your side, of course, but I'll keep this meeting to myself and help out how I can with the Autobots."

"And Pandimala?" Skyquake spoke up, motioning to me. "What about her position? You now know that she is a Decepticon, loyal and true, and has been giving information to our leader. What will you do about that?"

That caused Wheeljack to pause. He must not have thought about the implications of my role in all of this. "You know where our base is, don't you?"

Starscream nodded. "We've known the location of the Autobot base since before you all took Pandimala." I noticed him flinch slightly at that. "And trust me Wheeljack, it has been difficult to not act on that information, given everything that has happened." He then continued to answer Wheeljack. "To continue with your question, however, it was not hard to figure out. Given your shortage of energon, before your faction acquired the energon harvester, you would have to be relatively close to where the human children you have taken under you all live, and you wouldn't be able to use your ground bridge to transport them all the time. So, you would have to be within a reasonable driving distance to their hometown to return them to their families after your daily adventures."

"From there," Lord Megatron picked up. "It was simple for Soundwave to narrow down locations near that area that would suit being used as a base for your faction. Only your current location fits all of those schematics." He then smiled. "And if you think I am bluffing, I can give you the coordinates to your base, as well as where each of the humans you are caring for lives."

"So why not attack us before, if you have only thought about peace because of Pandimala's goals?" Wheeljack shot back.

"Timing," Starscream answered. "It would have done us little good to attack you back then. You would have changed locations and then we would have to narrow down your location again. Why tip our servos at your location when we could stay aware of your location until we needed to use it?" He then coughed. "Plus, you Autobots aren't the only ones who have had to clean up your faction. You are just taking much longer than we did."

Wheeljack nodded. "Makes sense, on both fronts. Prime isn't exactly big on forcing bots to behave. He tries, and he's a good leader. But there are a lot of problems that get swept out of sight unless they become too big." He then looked up at Lord Megatron. "I'll keep her secret. She's a friend of mine, and I can't snitch out my friend." He smirked at the end of that.

After that, the talk between everybot grew casual, and I only worried when Wheeljack pulled Starscream to the side with a planning look on his faceplate. I did not like that look. But, Lord Megatron had asked to speak with me for a click, since Skyquake had gone downstairs to get us some energon to enjoy, and so I had to zone out whatever it was that Starscream and Wheeljack were talking about.

I felt worried about it, though, when Wheeljack and I went to leave the bar. Both Starscream and Wheeljack threw each other these knowing smirks and something told me that they did not bode well for me in the slightest. Slag I did not like the fact that those two now had each other's private comms. But, at least the meeting turned out well. I had a true ally in the Autobots now, who was aware of what our plans were for peace. That meant more than anybot realized. I could talk with Wheeljack when I needed to speak to somebot about my goals. This was the start of something amazing.

Pitch's 1st P.O.V.

"Something needs to be done," Sentinel growled as he paced in my room. I was currently sitting at my desk cleaning my weapons while Flamewar had taken over sitting on my berth. "That femme is going to ruin everything. Right now, we have the freedom to do as we will without the Prime noticing. It was all going so well before Pandimala was revealed to be that human."

Flamewar nodded. "If I had known the trouble she was going to cause, I would have just snuffed her spark instead of taking her prisoner."

Yes, that would have been smart. But the credits we might get for a triple-changer femme on the black market had been too tempting. So, we figured we would capture her, let the Autobots hear whatever information they needed from her, and then fake her offlining before smuggling her off-world. We would have made quite the bonus. That would have made paying Flamewar, once our fight here on Earth was finished, much easier on my credits. She was causing mayhem much better than I thought she would, which would probably mean I would have to pay her extra. I needed her to divide the Autobots here on Earth. With them divided, I would be able to help Sentinel eventually take the title of Prime away from the pacifist who currently held the title.

With Sentinel as the Prime, then I would be free to continue my experiments on whatever bots I wished. I was always interested in how unique mods affected bots. One of the few times I failed, well, I had that blasted medic to blame. If she hadn't gotten in my way that solar, then I would know how those sort of bots worked. But, she had to get in my way. Of course, in doing so, she put herself in jeopardy as well. It was probably the only reason I was still able to operate. I had underestimated the medic back then...but never again. Once we took care of our triple-changer problem, then I would focus on removing that femme from the picture.

Speaking of…

"Thinking back on the past won't allow us to change it," I reminded the two of them. "What we need to do, is get answers. We know very little about the femme, and the more information we have on her, the more credits we can get for her once we can dispose of her."

When Sentinel suddenly smirked, I had a feeling this was going to be good. That mech almost had a mean-streak as nasty as my own. "Then what we need to do is rip the information out of her helm," He then reached into his sub-space before he pulled out a long patch with each end looking identical. "We silence her and turn off her motor functions before hooking one of us up to her. I can work the patch simply enough for what we need. We would just need one of you two to dive in. After that, we will have the information we need to make a fortune off of her."

"Not that it isn't a fun plan," Flamewar spoke up, a look of hesitation on her faceplate. "But how does that stop the femme from telling the Wrecker what we did? We've seen how close the two have gotten over the past solars. And if Wheeljack is on her side, then she'll have the medics and Zarron too. Given that it is the femme, and how it has been obvious that we don't have any like toward the femme, Prime might get off his laurels and open an investigation."

That was a good point. We couldn't afford an investigation. That might reveal too much about what our plans are. When I looked to Sentinel, though, he didn't seem to be worried. "Don't worry about that Flamewar. I do know enough about how to work a patch to know how to incorrectly detach it. If the femme mentally recovers from the failed misconnection on her part, then her processor will be so jumbled that she won't remember what happened. Bad disconnections have a high percentage rating of wiping out the memories of the previous solar from the bot. I've used this technique before, so I should know after all."

Interesting. I was curious as to who Sentinel was able to use this technique, that he was so sure of, on. "And how can we be positive that she won't remember?"

Sentinel let out a single laugh at that. "Because if the last bot I used the technique on remembered that I did so, then I would be on the run from the Autobots, and more specifically, the Guardians. Since I am not on the run from those slaggers, then I feel positive that this will work."

Well, that was impressive. The Guardians were not a group of Autobots that one took on lightly, and it seemed that Sentinel not only did so but was able to get away with it. While I knew that the group had animosity toward Sentinel, they must not have the proof they needed to launch a full-scale attack against him.

This could work. From the slow-growing grin on Flamewar's face, she was in agreement with my thoughts on this. "Then we need to act immediately. This night-cycle once everybot is in recharge, we make our move. Pandimala's room is not difficult to break into, I've done it during the little naps that she used to like to take so much. We must both silence her and immobilize her at the same time. Otherwise, she will be able to alert the others here at the base that something is wrong. Speaking on, we need to make sure her room is jammed from all communication. That is including the private message system. If we are going to do this, then we have to take every precaution that we can."

The other nodded at my additions and I allowed myself a smile to creep onto my faceplate. Finally, we were going to be getting rid of that fragging femme known as Pandimala. She would not interrupt our plans any further, and I would enjoy making her suffer for it.

Authoress: Well, that was fun.

Wheeljack: Fun? Fun? You threw me in the scraplet den and I barely made it out of there online!

Authoress: *looks knowingly at Wheeljack* Really?

Wheeljack: *hesitates* Well, no. But, we are just lucky that went so well.

Authoress: *smirks* And you got nothing out of this? What with your new conspirator in your new project concerning Pandimala.

Wheeljack: *smirks* True. Having Starscream's help with that is going to make this much easier to deal with. I don't care who they are, those two are helm over pedes for each other, and we are going to see them together.

Authoress: *looks on knowingly* Good luck with that. *walks away*

Wheeljack: *looks after her* What do you mean? Authoress?

AN: MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Here is the extremely fast next chapter for you all! Wheeljack is now in the know about what is going on with the Decepticons! Plus, as mentioned above, he will also have some help in getting Pandimala and Megatron together now. *evil laughter* Of course, with how the chapter ended I wonder how that's going to work out for him?

Well, so I don't give too much away, here are the names of the next chapters, and they are doozies!

Chapter 49: Access Denied

Chapter 50: The Death-Bell Tolls

Chapter 51:... (I can't say yet, but I will say, this is the end of the season so, after the next chapter, you won't get any new chapter names until the next season starts. *evil laugh*

And that is all for now! Please leave a review, or just drop a hello! I know I am updating a lot lately (I think that is twice today...maybe three times. I lost track) Anyways, this will be it for today. It is quarter after ten at night right now for me, so I need to get some sleep to hopefully get better. So, until next time (which may be tomorrow...and I hope it is for you all.) TTYL! *wanting to go to the other side*