Hey everyone. As usual, thank you for the favorites/follows/comments. Feel free to let me know what you think of the story so far. Oh, and I might be away in a couple of weeks (not sure yet) so I will try to publish the next chapter early. I already have a start on it. Enjoy!

I do not own transformers... Unfortunately.

Chapter 6

As the light ebbed over the horizon, the nocturnal creatures of Diego Garcia were laying down to rest. Soldiers and autobots alike were beginning to emerge from their barracks, an overall tone of sleepiness still hung over them. Some of the more energetic men were already chipper, though. Their jovial conversations carried through the hallways of the autobot offices, alerting Number 56 to how late the agent had stayed.

There was too much data to sort through. Stealing copies of the digital files would have been quick, but such a breach would be detected by the autobot Second in Command whose office 56 was in. Also, taking the exact files and applying the sypher to them would give a hint as to what the coding patterns were. The agent's only choice was to use a blocking device to wipe any records of tampering, and mentally record all the information 56 laid eyes on. It could then be encrypted and sent to Division.

The agent had been at it all night and lost track of time. There were only so many opportunities to steal access to such classified information. This was a risky mission. 56 had to live on Diego Garcia for an unknown number of weeks or even months while gathering data for Division. Also, there was no specified target. Division knew almost nothing about the autobots besides what they shared with humans. Division wanted battle strength, fighting techniques, physical makeup, personal weaknesses, technological abilities and creations, and even personality profiles of every autobot, and decepticon if possible. All that, along with every other piece of data the agent could scrounge up about NEST and its soldiers and affiliates, including MECH's involvement.

There was too much information and the agent had to sit on it until Division made contact. Even then, reports could only be given in short bursts. It was always a possibility that NEST would find the messages exchanged, although Agent 25 was setting up extra encryptions as needed. If the messages intercepted were too long, it would give the autobots enough data to start deciphering the messages before the language could evolve enough. On top of that, each message sent increased the agent's risk of getting caught. This was no easy mission and it was not 56's specialty.

56 was first and foremost an assassin, and only spied for short term missions. In fact, this was 56's first mission that did not include killing since the agent was in training. 56 could not help but marvel at that fact. It was somehow refreshing, not having to slit someone's throat or shooting them from a far off ridge. Of course, after Division got everything they wanted, it was likely the agency would make a move against the autobots. So this might actually result in death. And that was familiar. Until then, 56 had to sneak away without getting caught.

-Scene Change-

Erin sat at the table in the mess hall. Her outward appearance was clean, well-cut, and calm. Of course, her uniform was hiding the layers of bruising she had obtained over the past couple of days. She was a good fighter, however, she was anything but invincible. None of the hits landed on her were intended to injure, but such was the nature of sparring with two ton robots. Her entire side still ached from her first and only run in with Sunstreaker.

Since arriving on Diego Garcia, she was able to obtain some additional information on each of the autobots. Sunstreaker, who was only discussed in fearful whisper, was apparently a literal killing machine. He and his twin were powerful forces on the battlefield. A part of Erin wished she had seen Sideswipe's true potential the other day, but her survival instincts reminded her that would have been bad. Sunstreaker's ferocity in battle was said to be matched by his temper. He was a loose cannon who could attack anyone at any given time, according to the scuttlebutt. He was proud and self-obsessed. He also had a distinctive hatred for humans and all organics in general. She could attest to his disregard for her kind.

The bruising she sported from Sunstreaker were not her only physical memories. Her legs ached from the punishment Ironhide had put the recruits through. It was partially her own fault. She always trained hard and this set a high bar in the black mech's eyes. Running away was not her style, but when facing down a metal giant, with no weapons, running away and dodging was what she did. For hours. It was a strain on her energy and body. When she finally collapsed in bed, her entire skeleton shook.

However, like the good soldier she was, she did her best to hide signs of weakness. Erin tried not to dwell too long on the thought that she was about to do all of that intense training again. Instead, she half listened to Franky, who was trying to explain the wonders of football to poor Adam who had, in as few words as possible, said he did not get the appeal of spectator sports. This tangent had been lasting well over seven minutes. Erin mildly wondered whether they would notice if she left. She had plenty of time before needing to report in the main hanger, but she liked to be early. Perhaps she could even speak with Ironhide…

She stood up to leave, getting the boys' attention. "I'm gonna head down, I'll see you later." She dismissed herself and carried her tray down to the trash receptacles, even though her meal was only half eaten. While Erin was not a picky eater, she also was not entirely hungryr, so skipping out on the bland meal was not a big loss. And that food was bland. Everything that was not prepackaged seemed to be flavorless. She'd stick with sandwiches with deli meats from then on.

"Hey, wait up!" Franky left his food to quickly jog over to her. She gave the man a questioning stare. "I was meaning to ask," his body was calm but his eyes were alive with nervousness, "you gotta tell me how you took those guys on yesterday. I'd like to know your secret." He smiled as genuinely as he could.

'Secret? Physical stamina and battle intelligence, duh.' "Yeah, sure, what do you want to know anyway?" she questioned. While Franky was in basic training with Erin and Adam, he was mainly support staff. After six months, he'd be confined to a desk most of the time, not taking on 'cons.

"Oh, just whatever you find out as you take those guys on. Yesterday, you were going on about how they balance and where their weak spots are…" he seemed to have caught himself nerding out, straightening and giving a friendlier smile, "I just want to know how you do it, that's all. It seems kind of cool, like you have a third eye or something." He finished with a rather dorky grin.

"Well, sure. I guess. I'll talk to you about it later, ok?" Erin quickly recovered from his odd changes in behavior. Not that she could consider them strange for him in particular, considering she had only met him a couple of days prior after all. Yet, he seemed friendly enough for her to continuously hang out with him.

After saying her goodbyes once again, Erin headed towards the main hanger. Unfortunately, Ironhide was nowhere in sight. Instead, there were bots whom Erin had yet to interact with. Prowl, Mirage, and Wheeljack. She entered the hanger, only sparing a cautious glance their way. She decided to wait for her trainer by the stairs stretching up one of the walls.

Her movements were quickly caught. All three bots turned their heads to the small human female. Prowl quickly mumbled something to the other two before leaving them and heading towards Erin. She couldn't help but take in his figure. He stood tall and proud, the doors from his alt-mode were raised high on his back. The white decal saying 'police' were parallel on each 'wing'. Adorned on his head were two dark navy spikes that matched the dark detailing on the black of his body. He held the presence of the room. Not as much as Optimus Prime, but not too far behind.

When he was close enough to comfortably speak, Erin raised her arm in a salute. "Good morning sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

Prowl shook his head, expression straight. He seemed the carry the military look so naturally. "I merely wished to see the soldier that the men were causing such a ruckus about." He gazed at her with an appraising eye. "I have yet to see a human soldier challenge an autobot to a one on one match, yet alone two. I'd say you were reckless, but yesterday's results leaves that up in the air." Erin did not miss his use of that phrase, obviously adopted from humans.

"Everyone knows they were going easy on me." She explained. Erin was not trying to push the compliment, she just saw it as a fact.

"I don't know about that, kid." Wheeljack spoke up as he also approached her. This was Erin's first time seeing this bot. His voice made him seem older than Prowl. The scar on his face was reminiscent of Ironhide's. "If you were a cybertronian, I'd think you belonged with the wreckers." He smiled approvingly down at her.

"What's a wrecker? I've heard the term used before, but it has not quite been explained."

The red bot in the back of the group visibly rolled his eyes. "Now you've done it Tesoro." Mirage's voice was heavy with an Italian accent. Erin could see a curved blade on each wrist which were crossing his chest. Ironhide was the only other bot whom Erin had seen toting weapons out in the open. Although, it appeared that some kind of grayish sheath covered the sharp edges of the blades. His head was held high, and he carried himself with what seemed to be an arrogant air.

Wheeljack glanced back with an annoyed glare. "The kid asked me a question, who am I to deny her an answer." He looked back to Erin, "Us wreckers are the hardest hitting fighting force in the autobot ranks." He punched his open palm to accentuate his point. The loud crash was a clear reminder of his strength. "We take the jobs no one else will." Glancing back at Mirage, "Even if it will mess up our pretty little paint jobs." He chuckled at the fuming autobot.

"So you're like special ops?" Erin questioned.

Prowl nodded his head. "You could say that, although technically the wreckers were disbanded before we arrived on Earth. Wheeljack is here as a member of Team Prime.

"Once a wrecker, always a wrecker." Wheeljack stated with a hint of annoyance.

"Which is why you will always be a rompicoglioni." Mirage muttered.

"What was that you useless hood ornament!" Wheeljack turned threateningly towards the red mech. "I didn't quite catch that!"

Prowl smoothly stepped between the two as Wheeljack started to reach over his shoulders for two red protrusions. "Calm yourself, Wheeljack." He spoke sternly.

"What about smooth talker over there?" Wheeljack shot an accusatory glance and his SIC.

"Save it for later." Prowl tried to compromise, glancing down at their one person audience.

Wheeljack pushed past him, but did not make a move for Mirage. Instead, he headed out a side door, sparing a frustrated growl towards the red mech as he past him. Once he was gone, Prowl turned towards Erin.

"I apologies for his behavior." He dipped his head sincerely.

His actions did not seem that severe to Erin. She was slightly caught off guard by his apology. Nevertheless, she turned the blame, "No, I am sorry for causing it."

"Ignore him, poco umano. Questo è quello che devo fare…" He turned away, disinterested with the conversation and headed in the opposite direction of where Wheeljack left.

"Ci proverò, grande robot." Erin called after him.

He swung around and gave her a surprised stare. "Mon male, carnosol." He then turned again to leave.

Prowl's lips twitched in the slightest smirk as he followed Mirage out the side exit, leaving Erin alone in the hanger.

Or so it seemed. Once she thought the room was empty of any occupants, at least cybertronian ones, Erin heard a light chuckle come from the main entrance. Erin turned to see Sideswipe, leaning against a thick metal beam that supported the tall walls. How had she not seen or hear him? It was disturbing to say the least.

"Getting along with the other Team Prime members?" He questioned as he pushed himself straight and wheeled over to Erin. While Optimus and Prowl filled spaces with their presence of authority, Sideswipe filled it with underlying mischief.

"Is there something you need Sideswipe?" Erin was surprised by how short she sounded. Maybe it was that mysterious factor behind him, but she was more weary of him than she was of the other autobots. Thinking back on it, she was calm with the other three bots, she did not even need to put on airs for that interaction. Of course, her instincts were shouting 'run away from the giant monsters', but she only treated them like suggestions. Maybe getting chased by a two ton ally the other day brought a normalcy to her situation in a weird kind of way. Either get used to it or don't survive. This, though, was not true with the silver front liner. Wheeljack must have been at least four feet taller than Sideswipe but the mech in front of her seemed too big and too threatening. Just being around him caused the hairs to rise on the back of her neck.

Sideswipe himself was calm and smiling. He made no move to garner Erin's suspicion. "Aw, can't I just want to say high? I was in the area and saw you talking with the 'bots over there, so I thought I'd pop in." He paused for a moment, crossing his arms and leaning more on one leg, looking casual. "Hi." He said with a lopsided grin.

"Hi." Erin plainly responded, not sure what he was expecting.

…

"Soooo," he breathed out after moments of thick silence, "Since I was, uh, you know, in the neighborhood and saw you, I thought I might ask whether you've considered my offer?"

"No." Erin answered somewhat honestly. She had thought about it a bit, but had not come to any conclusions. Both twins seemed to be loose cannons. She wanted to be on Team Prime, but at what cost?

Sideswipe twirled his fingers around each other in a nervous gesture. "Uh, no as in you-"

"I haven't thought about it." She explained, "I was actually going to discuss it with Ironhide when he got here."

"Oh." The bot seemed to droop at the thought. Perhaps he and Ironhide did not get along. She had not seen enough interaction between the two to come up with any definite conclusions. At the very least, Ironhide obviously thought Sideswipe was immature. He most likely would disapprove of the arrangement.

"I don't just want to ask him about us teaming up," she amended after seeing the forlorn look on his face, "I also want to see what it will take for me to even be added to Team Prime. I'm sure there are a number of requirements" Did she just reassure him? That was… uncharacteristic.

The bot seemed to recover a bit with her words. "Ok, I get that. Although, I'm sure you more than qualify. But, I'll leave you to it, then." He turned to head back out the main entrance. "Oh, and let me know if you decide anything, ok?" After Erin nodded, he quickly left. Actually, it was more like he booked it out of there, must be in a hurry to get somewhere.

Erin continued to wait while other soldiers filled the room. Apparently she would not get the chance to speak with the mech alone. Little did she know that the mention of Ironhide had protected her from the oncoming prank the front liner had planned for that moment. Sideswipe left the hanger, axe body spray and zip tie tucked away in his subspace.

-Translation-

Tessoro- sweetheart

Rompicoglioni- ball-breaker or 'pain in the ass'

Poco umano- little human

Questo è quello che devo fare- That's what I must do

Ci proverò, grande robot.- I'll try, big robot.

Non male, carnosol- Not bad, fleshy

-Translation-