"Here's my report, twerp". Smokescreen said, laying a datapad on Prowl's desk and flicking him in the back of the head.
"Is that how to treat a superior officer?" Prowl asked, picking up the datapad.
"You're my geeky little brother first, my superior officer second". Smokescreen stated.
"I'm not geeky". Prowl said, managing to read the datapad and argue with his brother at the same time.
"Are too".
"You seem to have so much energy, maybe I should send you out on another patrol". Prowl said. "Speaking of which, you made several spelling mistakes on your report".
"So what?" Smokescreen snapped. "You wanted a report on my patrol, not an A+ essay".
"I'm getting you a dictionary".
"See? You are such a geek". Smokescreen grumbled.
"Am not".
"Are too".
"Am not".
"Are too".
"Smokescreen, shut up!"
"Make me!"
"Don't tempt me, Smokescreen".
"That's enough, both of you!" Optimus ordered, walking into Prowl's office. "It's clear the two of you have been having some issues lately. So I'm sending both of you out to Tyger Pax to check on an energon reading".
"I can handle it myself, Prime". Prowl said.
"It never hurts to have backup", Prime said. "And the two of you need to work through your issues with each other".
Prowl bristled as Smokescreen gave him a rough pat on the head. "Let's go, baby bro!" he said.
"Don't call me that!"
Smokescreen followed Prowl through the brush as his brother read an energon scanner.
"Got anything yet?" Smokescreen asked.
"No".
"Tyger Pax is a pretty big place", Smokescreen mused. "Could take awhile". No comment from Prowl. "So what is it we have to do? Get a sample if we find it?"
"We record the coordinates, then take a sample of the energon back to Perceptor to test its stability". Prowl answered, as if he were reading a manual.
"Prime been keeping you busy with reports?" Smokescreen asked, trying to keep up a conversation.
"Somewhat".
Smokescreen sighed. He wasn't even going to try another attempt at conversation. When Prowl was sulled up, he became less talkative than usual. He probably wouldn't act like this if Jazz or Bluestreak had been sent with him, Smokescreen thought with a huff. Jazz and Prowl had been best friends since they were younglings, and Prowl and Bluestreak were twins with, according to Bluestreak, a bond Smokescreen would 'never understand'.
Suddenly, a laser blast struck a tree beside them. Prowl and Smokescreen wheeled around to find Stinger and Thrust a short distance behind them.
"This seems to be a busy trail". Stinger said, firing another shot.
The Autobots ducked behind a boulder and opened fire.
"I guess they picked up the signal, too". Smokescreen said.
Thrust fired a missile that shattered the bolder Smokescreen and Prowl were behind. Stinger lunged at Smokescreen and the two locked into combat while Prowl focused his firepower on Thrust.
"You're a really bad shot". Thrust said as he dodged one laser blast after another. The Decepticon fired a blast that hit Prowl's right knee, causing the Autobot to hit the ground.
Seeing Prowl in trouble, Smokescreen gave Stinger a strong kick in the stomach, transformed and began driving circles around Prowl, creating a thick smoke cloud that was choking the Decepticons and affecting their vision. He then returned to bot mode, scooped up Prowl and ran further into the brush. After a while, Smokescreen sat Prowl down behind a large boulder, drew his blaster and listened intently.
"I think we lost 'em". Smokescreen said quietly, crouching down to examine Prowl's knee. He grimaced at the damaged armor and exposed circuitry. "Man, that's gotta hurt…"
Energon was pooling on the ground around the wound. "Can you move it?"
Prowl tried to bend his knee, letting out an involuntary grunt of pain, but the knee wouldn't flex.
"No".
"Joint component must have been hit then", Smokescreen mused.
"Thanks for the diagnosis, Captain Obvious", Prowl grumbled.
Smokescreen ignored Prowl's snide remark, knowing his brother got cranky when he was uncomfortable.
"Your losing a lot of energon", Smokescreen took a closer look at the wound. "Okay, I see a piece of shrapnel right there. If I get it out, that will stop the energon loss". He took a pair plyers from his storage compartment and gave Prowl a sympathetic look. "This is gonna hurt",
"Do you even know what you're doing?" Prowl asked, shuffling backward against the boulder in an attempt to get out of Smokescreen's reach.
"Of course I do, now hold still".
Prowl grit his teeth and dug his fingers into the ground as Smokescreen worked, occasionally letting a grunt escape.
"There we go!" Smokescreen said, triumphantly holding up the shrapnel for Prowl to see. "Good job", he patted Prowl on the shoulder, who was leaning back against the boulder, panting slightly. "Too bad I don't have any energon candy for ya".
"I'm not a sparkling", Prowl snarled.
"I think we'd better head back to base so Ratchet can patch that up". Smokescreen said. "You wanna rest here a minute?"
"No, let's go before the Cons catch up".
Smokescreen put Prowl's arm around his shoulders and helped him up. Smokescreen took a couple of steps and paused.
The Decepticons could be heard in the distance.
"Are you sure they came this way?"
"Sure, I'm sure. See? There's a trail of energon from where I hit one of 'em".
Not that way, then.
Smokescreen quickly turned in the opposite direction. Prowl bit his lip to keep in a groan from having to hobble on his injured leg. Smokescreen shot a quick glance at the wound and saw the energon was no longer running out, which meant the Decepticons couldn't track them anymore. They could be back in Iacon in a couple of hours, but at this pace, the travel time could be easily doubled. He also knew the chances of Thrust and Stinger forgetting about the Autobots and continuing their search for the energon were slim.
Thrust and Stinger soon reached the spot Prowl and Smokescreen had stopped at.
"They've been here", Stinger announced, seeing the patch of energon on the ground Prowl had left.
"Can you imagine how pleased Megatron will be when we show up with the energon and two Autobot prisoners?" Thrust asked.
"We have to find them first". Stinger replied. "They can't be far, let's go".
