The first thing Quickshadow noticed once she came to was the unfamiliar red and gray walls that surrounded her.

She blinked a couple of times, adjusting her optics to the lights that dimly illuminated the large area.

The familiar smell of charcoal mixed with a hint of oil made its way into her 'nose'.

She found the sent almost therapeutic in a way she couldn't describe.

The sent reminded her of glowing embers and ashes- the typical aftermath limited not only to a house fire but also that of the bonfire they had the morning of Mid-winter each year.

She always felt a wave of satisfaction come over her as she watched the last few logs burn down till nothing but ash remained.

Her processor had drifted off, searching for any recollection of how she had ended up in this unfamiliar room.

Flashes of the sparring match that had unfolded between herself and the red mech suddenly came back to her.

She remembered her HDU warning lights going off, and how she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Worried amber optics gazed back down at her as she struggled in a strong pair of arms.

She looked at her surroundings once again, realizing she was in Heatwave's room; more specifically- she was lying on his berth.

A sudden twinge of pain pulled her out of thought.

Her servo found its way to the side of her helm, rubbing in a circular motion in an attempt to soothe her throbbing processor.

Thankfully, the pain began to subside after a few moments, and she was finally able to register the door in front of her began to slide open.

Heatwave stood at the door with a cube of energon in one servo. His features seemed to relax when he noticed Quickshadow was awake. "Oh, you're up."

Quickshadow tried to sit up, but she soon found that her arms were refusing to cooperate.

Seeing her struggle to sit up properly, Heatwave set the cube on the nightstand beside the berth and walked over to assist her.

"Let me help you." He offered.

Instinct told her to push his servo away and refuse, and she would've listened had reasoning not come in and reminded her she would only make a fool of herself if she decided to be stubborn.

Quickshadow slightly bit down on her bottom derma and gave him a small nod.

His servos soon came in contact with her frame, his right on her back struts while the left slipped under her 'knees'.

Within the next second, she felt her frame slightly leave the berth as Heatwave effortlessly repositioned her to where she was sitting upright, leaning against the berth frame.

And just as soon as they had gotten there, his servos retracted from her frame, leaving a warm, tingly sensation on the areas they had touched.

As she composed herself, a cube of energon was brought to her faceplates.

"Here." His tone seemed calm and collected, but the slight hesitation that separated the word's two syllables did not go unnoticed by the special ops agent.

He was nervous.

She thankfully accepted the cube from his outstretched servo, bringing the cup to her intake to hide the small smile that had formed on her mouth plates.

"Feeling any better?" He watched as she drank the cube's contents.

"Yes, thank you." she nodded, allowing him to see her small smile.

He returned the small gesture and nodded his helm as if to say, 'You're welcome.'

"How long was I out?"

"About..12 hours," he replied, checking his internal clock.

Quickshadow's optics slightly widened at the revelation. Her processor was clouded with reminders of all the assignments and tasks she had to get done.

Heatwave watched as Quickshadow removed the covers off of her slender frame.

She attempted to get out of the berth, but a firm servo stopped her.

Looking up, she met Heatwave's amber gaze.

Her optic brow cocked up in a questioning manner.

"You need to rest." He tried to reason with her.

"I assure you, I'm fine." she insisted and pushed his larger servo away- or at least she tried.

His servo didn't budge; optics were still fixed on her.

"I spoke with Blades and HighTide; you have the day off to rest." He informed.

"Heatwave..that wasn't necessary-" she was cut off.

Dumbfounded, Heatwave furrowed his brows at her.

"Not necessary? Quickshadow- you nearly collapsed in the training arena and then blacked out." he deadpanned.

"I have unfinished assignments to deal with." she tried to reason with him.

"Don't worry about that right now; just try to relax."

She knew this was an argument she wouldn't win, so she stayed silent and readjusted herself on the berth.

Once he was sure she wouldn't try to get out of the berth again, he retracted his arm.

"Do you want another blanket, or are you fine with just one?" he asked, watching her arctic blue optics move to meet his.

He noticed her jaw clenched slightly as she opened her mouth to respond.

"I can care for myself quite fine, Heatwave." she was starting to feel irritated.

"But you don't." he retorted, raising a brow at her.

Quickshadow gave him a bored glare and then looked away. Heatwave ignored the looks she was giving him and settled down on the other side of the berth.

She eyed him curiously as he made himself comfortable next to her. Due to their proximity, she noticed the slightly fatigued look on his metallic features.

"Where did you recharge last night?"

He met her gaze for a split second before averting his optics to the gray blanket that brought warmth to his frame.

"I..stayed up."

"..Why?" She already knew the answer to her question, but she wanted to hear it from him.

It couldn't've been for work; she had just finished his recent assignments. He must've been checking up on her every few hours.

He subconsciously tugged at his helmet.

Quickshadow had found that it was a habit of his to pull on the red helmet whenever he was nervous.

"..Boulder said it would be a good idea to keep an optic on you throughout the night." he finally replied

She fought the grin that tried to form on her mouth plates.

Boulder had visited the Rescue bots' base in China the previous day to tell them that there had been a power surge in their area and coms would be down for a few days while he and Graham tried to fix the problem.

The green mech had asked for her assistance in looking after Professor Baranova's lab. Essentially, she was asked to babysit Blurr and Salvage while they were gone.

Quickshadow decided to play along for the time being. She would get the truth out of Heatwave later.

"You didn't have to." she shifted under the red blanket covering her, still looking at him.

Heatwave looked away, faceplates turning a light shade of blue.

"It's fine; I wasn't tired anyway." He gave a small shrug.

His digits began to fumble with the remote in his servo. The TV that hung on the opposite wall to the bed turned on and illuminated the dimly lit room.

Quickshadow watched him silently browse through the large selection of movies. "I didn't take you as the movie buff type." She commented, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth plates.

"Yeah? Well, I guess you're not the only one with secrets, huh?" He let out a small chuckle. Quickshadow rolled her optics with soft laughter of her own.

"What do you wanna watch?"

Quickshadow scanned each title that was on the bright screen.

She wasn't too familiar with earth films as she had only seen a total of 3 since she arrived on Griffin Rock.

"I suppose an action movie would suffice. I'm not too familiar with movies in general." She brought her 'knees' up to her chassis.

Heatwave gave a small nod and selected the first action film he saw.

Halfway through the film, Quickshadow felt warm metal weigh down on her left arm.

She slightly flinched at the warm air that began to brush against her shoulder pad. Her helm turned to find Heatwave leaning on her frame; optic lids closed in deep recharge.

Her breath hitched. She hadn't been this close to anyone in years.

What was she supposed to do? Wake him up? Smack him? Let him recharge?

She took another look at him, noticing how peaceful he looked.

Quickshadow pulled the grey blanket over him, choosing to let him sleep.

Though he had tried to deny it, hehadwillingly stayed up to check up on her. It was only fair she let him rest.

Her optics glanced back at the screen hanging on the wall, shifting her attention to the movie that was currently playing.

A few hours went by, and Quickshadow was halfway through a horror film when a jumpscare came up, and the little girl on the screen began to scream.

Quickshadow felt him jolt up.

His optics snapped open and began to scan the room for the threat.

His servo closed around Quickshadow's wrist, capturing her attention immediately.

"Heatwave-" he didn't let her finish her sentence.

"Are you okay? What happened?" His optics scanned her frame for any sign of damage but found nothing.

"I'm fine, Heatwave. I'm only watching a horror movie." she pointed to the screen.

He turned his helm to the TV, and sure enough, the little girl that he had heard was backed up in a corner as a creature slowly approached her.

"Are you alright?" he felt her squeeze his servo as she asked the question.

He turned back to gaze down at her, still trying to process everything that had just happened.

"..Yeah, I'm good." He rubbed his optics glancing down at his servo.

Energon rose to his cheek plates when he registered her smaller servo was intertwined with his

She gave a small nod, and he felt her servo leave his.

"..What time is it?"

"Almost noon," she informed.

He watched as she removed the red blanket from her frame and stood up from the berth.

He opened his mouth to talk, but Quickshadow didn't let him utter a single word.

"I'm not going anywhere; I just need to stretch."

She rolled her shoulders; a few satisfying cracks were heard as the joints moved.

He glanced back at the screen as she repositioned herself on the berth.

The two Cybertronians sat in comfortable silence as they finished the horror film that was still playing.

The movie ended another hour later.

Quickshadow checked her inner clock as the credits began to roll, suddenly remembering she had to meet up with Boulder and Graham at Professor Baranova's lab in the Pacific Northwest.

"I really should be heading back, Heatwave. I have some manners to tend to." her optics met his, her gaze telling him she wouldn't take 'No' for an answer.

Heatwave didn't know why he inwardly felt disappointed upon hearing she had to go. He hadn't realized just how much he was enjoying her company.

He gave her a small defeated nod and got up from the berth as well.

"I'll walk you to the ground bridge."

Quickshadow bit back one of her snarky remarks and only nodded.

The two silently walked side by side; neither knew what to say.

"..What led you to overwork yourself like that?" The question cut through the comfortable silence.

Quickshadow didn't respond with a quick direct answer like she usually did. Instead, her reply came out a bit incoherent, with a few stutters here and there.

"...I uh...I don't really know. It's...a bad habit I picked up over the years, and no matter how hard I try...I can't seem to break it.." she slightly lowered her gaze, taking a sudden interest in the polished gray tiles they were walking over.

"..Is blacking out from exhaustion..normalto you?" His optic brows furrowed, concern visible on his features.

"..It's not the first time it's happened, but it does not occur frequently."

Heatwave hummed in response.

"Blades and HighTide aren't pushing you in any way?"

She eyed him curiously and shook her helm.

"They know better than to push my buttons." Her optics rolled back while a small smile tugged at her lips.

He nodded his helm. "Youneedto take breaks, Quickshadow."

"Noted." she nodded with a barely audible sigh.

Silence enveloped them once again.

The occasional brush of their servos sent sparks through Heatwave's frame, and he felt his spark speed up with each new contact.

There was that feeling again.

He stared ahead, hoping that somehow, Quickshadow wouldn't notice the uncontrollable blush that was growing on his faceplates.

At first, he thought it was just because he was working too hard or maybe he was coming down with something. However, it soon became painfully clear that the weird fluttering sensation he felt in his lower abdomen wasn't necessarily a symptom of an illness or caused by the lack of proper rest.

The sensation was triggered by the femme beside him, and he didn't understand why till a few weeks ago.

Boulder's words from the night they had gotten back from their little trip replayed over and over in the back of his processor.

'You need to stop denying your feelings, Heatwave.'

That night, He stayed up staring up at his ceiling, questioning if QUickshadow was to blame for the speeding of his spark beat or the fluttering feeling he got in his engine every time he saw her smile or laugh.

Dani had used the termButterflies in your stomachwhen she explained to Blades why one of the actors on TV was holding her stomach despite having no apparent reason to do so.

He shrugged it off, deeming it as just another human phrase he would never understand, but apparently, he was wrong.

The sudden sound of the ground bridge locking into position and powering on brought him back from his thoughts.

He found himself standing before the swirling green vortex; Quickshadow was at the control center, typing away at the holographic keyboards.

"I promised Boulder I would watch over things at the Professor's lab while he and Graham fixed the cause of the power surge they had yesterday." A small smirk played at her lips, not needing to look at him to know his cheek plates were stained blue.

So that's why his com had cut off. He pulled his helmet down just slightly.

He hated her ability to see past his lies.

Quickshadow's peds clicked on the floor as she walked closer to the vortex.

"..Thank you...for everything, Heatwave. I really appreciate it." Her smirk turned into a warm genuine smile.

Heatwave was awestruck by the rare sight. He was barely able to muster up enough common sense to nod.

"Perhaps next time we'll finish that sparring match."

And with that, Quickshadow walked through the awaiting ground bridge.

He waited till the green vortex disappeared and the ground bridge powered off.

He hadn't heard his human partner come in and almost flinched when he began to talk.

"Sparring match?" The redhead eyed his partner curiously. He had been unaware of Quickshadow's visit.

"..it's a long story." Heatwave tried to avoid Kade.

The eldest of the Burns siblings crossed his arms over his chest, slightly annoyed with his partner.

Taking a better look at the red mech, he noticed an unfamiliar blue glow on his metallic cheeks.

"..Why is your face blue?"