Author's Note: I own Spitfire, Ari, Lee, the crew, and Pix. Transformers are owned by Hasbro. (duh) All songs belong to their respective owners. (another duh) This is a little more serious than my other fics, hope you like it. Also, Ari is NOT a self-insertion, we do have a few things in common, (like our taste in music) but that's it.

Standing Outside The Fire

Part One: Kindling

By Silverwolf

You call them cool

those hearts that have no scars to show

the ones that never do let go

and risk the tables being turned...

Chapter One

Ari smiled as she wiped the oil from her cheek. Nothing was going to stand between them and that checkered flag this time! She cleaned her grease-covered hands with an equally grease-covered rag and closed the hood of the sleek red and white stock car. Lee ran in and pulled to a stop just behind her, then snatched the wrench from her back pocket and took off as she whirled and dashed after him. He made a U-turn and dove into the seat of the racer, slammed his helmet on, and started the engine. Ari caught up with him just as he peeled out of the garage, squealing tires and kicking up dust as he went. Ari waved a fist at him and laughed. "I'll get you! And next time I'll rig Spitfire to give you the ride of your life!" She yelled after him, hearing his faint laughter as he rolled onto the track. It was an old game they played, and both knew she would do no such thing. 'Spitfire' was the name they had given the car, a private joke they had about Lee's amazing ability to get into trouble on the track. "Spitfire did it!" Had become a common expression among the crew, especially when someone had made an embarrassing error. Ari shook her head, still smiling, and headed back into the garage.

Meanwhile, not far away, someone else was having speed issues...

"C'mon Wheeljack!" Sideswipe pressed. "You're completely wasting that trans-form of yours! It's just not right!" Wheeljack sighed and tried to tune out the younger bot's pleas. He was busy with his latest invention, a return generational laser cannon, and frankly didn't feel like tearing around the countryside. Now, where did that bolt get to...

"It would make a great experiment...."

THAT got his attention. He paused long enough in his work to regard the red Autobot standing before him. "What do you mean, experiment?" If he could have, he would have raised an eyebrow.

"Haven't you ever considered testing your limits? I'll bet you've never reached your top speed."

Wheeljack considered this, but Sideswipe wasn't finished.

"I know this great track not far from here, it'll be a blast! C'mon Wheeljack..."

"Alright! Alright already! I'll go 'test my limits' as you say, but-" He added, holding up a finger. "I have one condition."

Sideswipe hesitated. "And what might that be?"

The black and white Autobot's face may have been rendered emotionless by his faceplate, but he was obviously grinning.

"I want you and Sunstreaker to promise to stop teasing me about my inventions."

The look of horror on Sideswipe's face was priceless. "You're kidding right?" He stared at the older bot for a moment. "You're not." He said glumly, but sighed and gave in.

A half hour later the two were nearing their destination. Sideswipe had tried to gauge his companion's speed potential, but Wheeljack stubbornly refused to go any faster than the speed limit until they got there. He was only doing it to infuriate the younger bot, and they both knew it. They pulled into the entrance only to find the track was already in use, a red and white stock car with flames across the hood was tearing down the straightaway. "Well," Wheeljack commented. "looks like we won't be conducting any experiments after all." He tried to hide his disappointment, Sideswipe's enthusiasm had been infectious, and he had really wanted to get the chance to speed for reasons other than those involving Decepticons.

"Maybe they'll let us on the track anyway? It can't hurt to ask..."

Had he been in robot mode, Wheeljack would have shrugged. "Go ahead, try to link up with their walkie talkies."

"Gotcha." It took a moment to find the right frequency. "Hey, this is Sideswipe, from the Autobots. Is it okay if we come out on the track for awhile?" There was a pause, then they saw a young red-haired woman standing in the infield pick up her walkie-talkie.

"Lee, if this is another prank I'm gonna roast you!"

Sideswipe laughed. "Nope, we're really Autobots."

"Come on in then," Another pause. "you can use pits five and twelve, just try not to come in at the same time, my crew's a bit short to handle three." She hesitated. "Uhm...no offense but...you do know how to pit right?"

Both bots shrank back in embarrassment.

"Um.... no...." Sideswipe mumbled.

The woman on the other end laughed, but it was a friendly laugh. "That's ok, just pull up onto Pit Road and I'll talk you through it."

Relieved, they both drove out to the infield, where the young woman, they discovered her name was Ari, educated them on how to pull in, pit, and pull out. It was all fairly simple, though Wheeljack felt a little awkward being surround by several humans, all intent on removing and replacing pieces of him. When they pulled out onto the track Ari ran out to the flag stand and climbed up to sit on the platform, walkie-talkie in hand. The other racecar had been informed, via that same walkie-talkie, about the new visitors, though it didn't seem to acknowledge them as they joined it on the track. Sideswipe immediately shot ahead, whooping happily, Wheeljack however, took his time, accelerating slowly, enjoying himself in his own way. Though the taunts his companion constantly gave him were beginning to annoy him. Just then he got a beep on his comm.

"Wheeljack here."

"Hey," It was Ari. "you wanna take the wind out from under your friend there? Literally?"

He chuckled softly, as if afraid Sideswipe might hear.

"What do you have in mind?"

Following Ari's careful instructions, Wheeljack waited until Sideswipe had lapped him, then sped up to tailgate the younger bot.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sideswipe yelped as the autobot engineer carefully tapped his back bumper, and the younger bot found himself swerving out of control as his older companion shot past, laughing at his plight.

"Great job!" Ari managed over the walkie-talkie, she was laughing as well. "Now go do it to Lee."

Wheeljack chuckled evilly and tore after the red and white stock car.

After a few laps Ari called him in to pit, and he slowed down as he reached the entrance to Pit Road. He didn't notice that she'd climbed down from the platform and was running across the track towards him. The crew jumped over the wall and surrounded him, changing tires, refueling, and doing a hundred other important tasks. Ari suddenly appeared out of nowhere, slid across his hood to his driver's side, opened the door, and climbed in.

"Hey!" He started to protest, but the crew was already finished and giving him the sign to go. He pulled back onto the track, and Ari settled into the seat and secured her seatbelt.

"Now let me show you how it's really done."

With Ari driving, Wheeljack managed to not only get his lap back, but scare the slag out of Sideswipe on at least three separate occasions. He just sat back and took notes as she made fools out of the others. "Heh, you're pretty good at this. You sure you're not a professional?"

She laughed and shifted gears. "Nah, I drive for fun. Mechanics is what I'm good at. You can come by the garage after we've humiliated the guys enough."

He chuckled. "Count me in. I'd swear if you weren't human you'd be a born Autobot!"

She smirked. "Who says I'm not?"

"What?!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" She amended with a laugh.

"Real cute. Uh oh.."

The 'uh oh' was directed at the jets flying toward them. Ari just sat back and grinned at the dashboard. "Calm down handsome. Those are just stunt jets practicing maneuvers."

He laughed nervously. "Sorry, always gotta be on alert y'know. And what's with the compliments?"

"What compliments?"

"'Handsome'?"

She grinned. "One, because you are. And two, I call everybody handsome, get used to it."

"Anything you say..."