A/N: Happy, Happy New Year! This chapter is decently long and it has some long waited answers for you guys. Just a couple though, I mean I can't reveal my entire hand quite yet, can I? Also the movie Bumblebee was so adorable. It was a huge inspiration to write for this story again (which is ironic b/c Bumblebee isn't even in this chapter lol). Leave me rambly reviews and send me messages! Y'all know I love talking to you guys!


Chapter 14:

Promises Made


"Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim." –Tyler Knott Gregson


"So you told."

There came no immediate reply. In fact, the only sound filling the air was the low rumbling of his engine. I kept my eyes focused on the empty road ahead. My sight only worked where his headlights touched, the desert was just a black blur otherwise.

"My aim was not to betray your trust." There was guilt heavy in the Prime's voice.

I smiled softly, hoping he could somehow see it despite not having his holoform activated, "No, it's ok, OP. I get it. You needed to share the information. I just…" He remained quiet, allowing me to find my words, "It's easy to ignore when less people know. Now though, it's- I'm not upset. They know everything though?"

"Except what you have yet to tell me." He replied. His deep voice resonated within the interior of his cabin. I sank down into his leather seats looking for some form of comfort. The seat's warmth helped to some degree, I guessed.

"The talisman on Cade's arm teleported us to Austin. I had what I thought was a death induced hallucination, but then that death induced hallucination started to chase us around the hive while we looked for some mysterious alien staff." The words sounded absolutely ridiculous as they rolled off my tongue, but this was just the life I lived now. "Then Megatron told me he needed to murder me to keep me safe, Cade miraculously blocked his attack with a magic sword, and my life has officially taken a nosedive into insanity."

Optimus hummed, "Aj, I believe you've mingled with insanity long before your trip to Austin."

"Fair point you have there."

"We will always keep you safe, Aj." Optimus reassured. I leaned my head against the headrest and let my eyes drift up to the stars. Out here in the middle of nowhere, with no streetlights or glow of humanity, the stars were bright and innumerable. "I will find you answers on this mystery. I give you my word as Prime."

"Thanks, OP." I mumbled. My eyes were drooping and my body still ached. This conversation couldn't wait any longer, and Optimus had graciously offered to take me on a drive while we did so. "Can you take me back to Ratchet? I'm tired."

His engine rose an octave as he picked up speed, "Of course."


Sunstreaker groggily came online and he was immediately aware that the presence that had once been lying on his chassis was no longer there. He let his annoyance slip out through his vocalizer as a series of grunts. His servo searched the berth beside him, but it didn't find whom it searched for.

He forced his optics online as well and glanced around his small berth room. They finally settled on his target, who stood with her back to him as she stared out the window.

"Come back to berth." He groaned and shifted his position, "Sides may have come in by now, but we can't see him yet. He won't be off duty for another groon or two."

Her light gray and burnt orange door wings suddenly jerked up and remained stiff and frozen. His optics narrowed as he started to feel a rumbling that resonated through his chest.

"Sunstreaker, the Docks."

Sunstreaker's systems came online with a snap and he threw out his arm to grab her only to get his arm caught by his familiar red twin. He was venting out too much air at the moment, but he couldn't get it to stop.

'Sunny.' Sideswipe pressed with worry. He could feel his twin searching through the bond for answers and stumbled across the memory of what he saw last. Sunstreaker didn't hesitate to give him access and while his red twin relived through the same moment he was just forced to, he pulled his arm back towards himself and rubbed his helm with his servos.

Aj wasn't on his chassis anymore, Prime had taken her 7 Earth hours ago for a talk, and it was a good thing she hadn't been with the harsh way he came out of recharge.

'Sunny, what the frag?'

'I don't know.'

'That was the morning of the attack, but who…'

A silence settled between the two of them. The sound of steps filled the air and Ratchet came over to the two of them, "What the frag do you two slag heaps think you're doing? If you wrestle in here while I have Aj in the office recharging and Moonracer in stasis, I swear to Primus-"

"Ratchet, my programming is malfunctioning." Sunstreaker snapped.

Ratchet narrowed his optics. The medic always took health claims with full sincerity, "What's wrong?"

"I'm…I'm dreaming." Sunstreaker used the very human word that should've never applied to them. Sideswipe shook his helm over the bond, but he ignored it.

"Sunstreaker, we don't dream. We can have our processors replay old memories but-"

Sunstreaker snapped a glare to the medic's direction, "Ratchet, these aren't memories I'm seeing."


I could see the glow of fluorescent lights, but yet again my eyes were shaded from them. With a grunt, I sat up to see I had been sleeping in a small cot set up on what looked like a large, Cybertronian sized desk. The rest of the room was small, rather bare, but there were a few datapads stacked up in the corner away from me.

This was Ratchet's office. I had been in here only a few times before and it was only for a moment each time. Usually, he had the light on and that made details easier to see.

The door leading out of his office was open and I could hear the harsh Cybertronian language floating through to me. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in Optimus Prime's cabin. He must have done exactly what I asked and brought me to Ratchet.

"Ratchet?" I called out curiously and all speaking outside the office ceased. The view I had limited me to only one half of the main, Cybertronian only medbay. I could see Moonracer's still body lying on top of one of the berths and I could see the empty berth next to her, but the rest was cut from view. Seconds later Ratchet stepped into view. He quickly came to his desk and sat down making his eye level only a Cybertronian head above mine. If I stood up from the cot we'd almost be eye level.

"How do you feel, youngling?" His voice was soft towards me.

I smiled, "Peachy keen, docbot."

Ratchet chuckled to himself, "Amazingly, the worst injury you had was a few cracked ribs on both sides."

"Yeah, I can feel those." I moaned and let my hand run over the overly sore spots on my chest. The pain was evident anytime I breathed, but other than that everything else was just sore, "What happened to my brace? I never got to ask."

"We took it off so you could rest." Ratchet answered quickly. There was exhaustion written on his face, I could see it clear as day.

"You mean, you took it off so I'd be glued to the medbay."

Ratchet smirked in amusement but there was a beat of silence in the conversation before he rolled his shoulders as if trying to stretch. It was a very human like motion, "Wheeljack is on his way to put it back on."

Slowly, I tried to stand up, but Ratchet was quick to use his hand to keep me down, "Hey-"

"Just wait until your brace is on before moving, I don't want any accidents."

Rather than argue, I wrapped my arms around his hand and leaned against it, "I'm sorry I'm so accident prone, Ratchet. I'm sorry I make you worry."

"If you weren't making me worried, you wouldn't be you, and I wouldn't want anyone else as my ward." Ratchet said sincerely, "I'm just concerned…"

I nodded once, "Op told me y'all knew now."

Ratchet's eyes grew hard, "We will find answers, and we will protect you."

His response and been the same as Optimus Prime's. I had a feeling that was going to be the response from every person I talked to about this, but I didn't mind hearing it from my guardian. Although, I didn't like the solemn tone that had filled the air or the twist of discomfort that settled in my gut. With a grin, I leaned back on my hands, "So who were you talking to out there?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

My eyes widened in surprise, how come they hadn't come in with Ratchet to see me? Granted, I had just been with Sunstreaker, but I hadn't seen Sideswipe since the battle in Austin. Ratchet must have noticed my contemplation and shook his head, "They went to their berth room. They needed the rest. It was an order."

I didn't think an order from Ratchet would keep Sideswipe from seeing me, but I didn't argue. Instead, I bobbed my head once, "Right, so how's Moonracer coming along then?"

"She's in better shape now. Her memory banks are still heavily damaged." Ratchet sighed and I watched his gaze turn to her. "We have another medic coming in from the Australia base to help me with repairs. I need more than just Taylor for this." His sea-foam shaded eyes held worry and longing in them, "I'm hopeful that with his help we can scavenge some of her memories, but it isn't looking good at the moment."

"When does the new guy get in?"

"His name is First Aid. He trained under me on Cybertron." Ratchet looked back to me, "He should get here by tomorrow, but he cannot leave the Australia base until Swoop of the Dinobots is relocated to that base to work as their acting medic."

Ratchet's eyes darted back over to Moonracer and I smirked, "She said she recognized the name Ratchet."

"She did?" Ratchet's gaze snapped right back to me.

"Yeah, she called you kind." I grinned and at the sight of my grin Ratchet seemed to grow flustered. He stiffened in his seat and fidgeted in place slightly, "Ratchet, is she-"

Ratchet scoffed loudly, "She worked as a field medic and she used to come into my medbay from time to time to resupply and ask for tips."

"Sunstreaker said you trained her or something?"

"No. Nothing like that. She trained elsewhere and they taught her well. She was a good field medic." He crossed his arms, a pout still evident on his face.

I chuckled to myself and Ratchet scoffed again before mumbling under his breath in Cybertronian. A beat later, Wheeljack's cheery voice rang called out. Ratchet called him over gruffly, and he breezed into the office with fins a glow.

"Aj! Good to see you up! How do you feel?" Wheeljack came over and knelt by the desk to speak to me.

"I feel great, Jackie. Especially now that I know Ratchet has a girlfriend."

"Oh, he told you about Moonracer?"

Ratchet stood up quickly, so quickly in fact that Wheeljack was knocked off balance. The mech waved his arms in a near comical fashion to stay upright, but it did him no good as he hit the ground with a thud. The medic marched out, "I have things to do, you two bit brained idiots. Get her brace on her, Jack."

I could still hear Ratchet mumbling to himself in Cybertronian as he disappeared from view. Wheeljack's hand lifted up to set a few things on the desk then it disappeared as the sound of transforming filled the air.

"So I see that's still an touchy topic to discuss." Wheeljack's holoform said as he grabbed the supplies and walked over to sit on my cot.

He carefully set my bad leg in his lap and began to work. I chuckled, "Yeah, I was teasing him about it, but his reaction confirms that there was definitely something there. Were they actually dating?"

"No, I don't believe so." Wheeljack replied, "It was obvious to everyone except them though that they liked each other. Although…" He paused both in speech and motion, "With Moonracer's memory issues, perhaps it truly is a sensitive subject now."

I shook my head, "She remembered him."

"Really?"

"Yeah." I smiled to myself as Wheeljack continued to work on my brace, "And from what I can tell about sparkmates or whatever, she'd never really forget him, right?" Wheeljack hummed thoughtfully and I let my gaze go over his head to Moonracer again, "I mean, look where she is now. She found him."


Sideswipe sat on his berth staring at his twin who laid across the room on his own. The yellow mech's gaze was glued to the ceiling above him, but Sideswipe knew his processors were a million miles away. Ratchet had taken Sunstreaker's claim seriously. The medic had ran an extensive scan, but the results came back clean. There was nothing wrong with Sunstreaker.

"When First Aid gets here, when they work on Moonracer's memory banks, maybe they can take a look-"

"It wasn't a memory."

Sideswipe leaned forward on his knees, "Sunny-"

Sunstreaker whipped around and threw his legs off the berth so he could sit up and glare at him. Sideswipe felt frustration and confusion roll off his brother briefly before the yellow mech slammed down a wall on his emotions, "I remember that morning, Sideswipe. I have that entire day burned into my processors. What I saw was not a memory."

Sideswipe didn't speak up. He didn't have to. While Sunstreaker may have thrown up his walls to block things off, Sideswipe left his side open for his twin to explore. He was also throwing affection and comfort at the wall in hopes something stuck, in hopes something was felt.

Sunstreaker stood up and held his helm between his servos, "The missiles woke me up. Your-…Your pain, that woke me up." He turned around to stare at Sideswipe, "I was alone. I remember that."

"Sunny." Sideswipe stood slowly and stepped toward his brother, "I don't know what's happening, and I am not doubting you." He set his servos on Sunstreaker's shoulders firmly, "I'm just as confused as you are, but if we want to find answers about this femme… Sunny, you're going to have to keep an open processor."

'Sides.' Sunstreaker pleaded over the bond.

'I'm not belittling what you had to go through. I know that day was-'

'It was the worst day of my existence.' Sunstreaker snapped fiercely.

'I know.' Sideswipe hummed and poured out his love for his twin in hopes that it settled the yellow mech's spiraling spark, 'We will find answers.'


Peter had on a white collared shirt, black dress pants, and a dark blue tie. His hair was brushed to the side and his shoes were shined. My cute little nephew was a little business professional.

"Aj, you're making that weird humming noise again." Peter chuckled.

I beamed at him, "I can't help it. You look so cute and professional. About to go to political war with Galloway's idiot ass."

"Thanks, I think." Peter readjusted his glasses and held a door open for me to walk through. "How do you feel?"

"Great, really." I shrugged and flinched at the movement I felt in my chest.

Peter chuckled, "Very convincing."

"My ribs still hurt is all, but other than that I'm fine. My scratches are all scabbed up, my bruises are still bruises, but your Aunt has taken a harder beating than this before."

"Of that, I'm aware." Peter motioned toward my knee brace.

I waved him off, "Is my adorable little political nephew taking me somewhere or not? I have a date with the gym, you know?"

Peter smirked and motioned to me, "And here I thought you were just wearing gym clothes because nothing fits over the brace."

"Peter." I fake gasped at him, "The sass! And here I thought you were the good child."

He chuckled and shook his head before leading me down another hall towards a hangar I actually hadn't bothered exploring. There were so many on this base, and with Galloway floating around ready to attack me I couldn't be out in the open alone for too long.

"You know how First Aid comes in today, right?" Peter questioned and I nodded, "Well, I pulled a few strings on the whole 'Swoop/First Aid' transfer to get you a surprise."

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "A surprise?"

"They're landing now." Peter led me into a busy hangar where soldiers worked both at computers in the corner. I walked out to the tarmac area outside in time to see a large black plane of some sorts coming in for landing.

I lifted my arm to block some of the wind and flinched at the loud noise. Peter held his hand up to block the sun from his eyes, but seemed unfazed otherwise. The plane landed and the wind subsided. Other soldiers joined us out on the tarmac while some ran over to the plane itself to do odd jobs I didn't pay close enough attention to.

The back of the plane opened and I watched a small ambulance race out and toward the opposite side of the base. I'm sure Ratchet was hailing the new medic over comms and anyone smart didn't leave Ratchet waiting. First Aid had been a normal looking ambulance though and not a hummer emergency vehicle like Ratchet was.

Peter nudged me and I looked back to the plane in time to see a familiar pair of white eyes open. My face lit up as I jogged forward, "Grimlock!?"

The dinobot marched out of the plane and immediately began to shake and stretch, he blew a roar of fire out into the air making many soldiers jump. My eyes narrowed as I noticed the dinobot was now painted completely black. He had been his normal gray the last time I saw him over video chat.

"Who the fuck painted my dinobot black?!"

"I hear all the dinobots got painted." Peter replied with a chuckle as he came to stand by me, "It was to make them more intimidating."

I scoffed, "What? A big ass, fire-breathing, metal dinosaur isn't intimidating enough?"

Peter let out a bark of laughter and I couldn't help but grin too. I leaned over and wrapped my arms around him tightly, "Thanks, Pete. I knew you were the good kid after all."

He laughed again and I turned back to Grimlock who finally noticed me. He began to run over, making the ground shake, and the soldiers behind him yelled out panicked cries of warning as they saw I was right in the dinobot's path.

Grimlock skidded to a stop in front of me with his face low enough to hit me right in the chest. My cracked ribs groaned in pain, but I kept a smile on my face as I hugged the dinobot's ginormous nose. I was barely the side of his head alone.

"Grimlock! I missed you!"

"Me Grimlock miss you dinobot pet too." He grumbled and nuzzled his nose into my face. I laughed in amusement as Grimlock pulled back, "What happen to you dinobot pet's leg?"

"Some jackass hit me with a baseball bat." I answered.

Grimlock growled, "Me Grimlock step on him human."

"Don't worry, he's already taken care of."

Grimlock continued to grumble in annoyance. He had never asked about my injury while I was lying in a hospital bed talking to him before. I guess it had never come up, but now that he could see it, it was an issue in his eyes.

"Hey!"

I jumped at the new voice and looked down in time to see a small little Cybertronian hovering by my foot. He only came up to my knee and had thin rod likes limbs with tires for feet. His plating was dark blue and his eyes were bright red.

"That's Wheelie. He must have stolen a ride." Peter spoke up from behind me in a cautious tone. Was it because of the red eyes? Was this some sort of weird prison transfer thing?

"Aw he's a cutie." I cooed.

"You're not so bad yourself, sugar tits." Wheelie replied without missing a beat. My eyes widened and I immediately drew my right leg back then punted him across the tarmac. He cried out as I watched the lightweight mech fly back a good fifty feet before hitting the ground a tumbling back a few extra. He stood up and yelled at me in Cybertronian.

"Wow." Peter set his hand on my shoulder, "Good distance."

"I keep forgetting about my bionic leg." I replied. "Hey, am I gonna get in trouble for that?"

Peter chuckled, "It's Wheelie so I doubt it."

"Me Grimlock eat him Wheelie?" Grimlock questioned. Wheelie yelled again before transforming into a blue toy trunk and speeding away.

I lifted my hand and rubbed Grimlock's nose, "Maybe later."

"Grimlock, Prime uh, he would like to see you in the other hanger so if you, well, if you want to come with me?" A soldier stepped up to us and Grimlock turned his menacing gaze onto the soldier. The man in the uniform gulped nervously and from the looks of it this must have been his first time dealing with the dinobot in person.

I nudged Grimlock, "Hey, be nice, Grimlock. Go see OP. If I hear you were misbehaving…"

Grimlock scoffed, "You pet no boss of me Grimlock. Me Grimlock King."

The dinobot stalked away and the soldier jogged behind him. Hopefully he had at least stalked away in the right direction. I looked back to Peter, "Grimlock calling himself King is sort of a new deal."

Peter sighed, "One of the soldiers on the Diego Garcia base showed the dinobots the movie King Kong. Kong was King of his island so now…"

"Grimlock is King of his." I chuckled, "You know, you got that bot obsessed with Jurassic Park as a kid?"

Peter began to lead me back to the hangar, "Did I really? I don't even remember that."

"Yeah, for a while that's all that played in the living room to keep Grimlock occupied and happy."

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but another voice filled the air. We both glanced over in time to see Tyler walking over with Izabella beside him. She held his good hand while his other arm was still in a sling. The cut on the side of his head had stitches now, but other than that and a few ugly bruises he looked fine.

"Hey Izabella with a Z." I greeted with a smirk.

She smiled back at me in amusement. The young girl looked clean now, with new clothes too, and she actually seemed truly happy. It was a huge difference from the last time I saw her. I wondered if her new clothes and washed hair had anything to do with Aubrey. Last I saw of my sister, was when she visited me in the medbay yesterday, but I think she had gone home to Vegas after with Luke and Annabelle. They were all getting ready to leave for vacation. I think they were actually leaving tomorrow?

"First Aid just got in. He should be in the medbay by now and getting debriefed by Ratchet for the operation." Peter spoke up.

Izabella's eyes lit up, "Can I go, Tyler?"

"Do you know how to get there?" Tyler questioned.

"Of course I do." She rolled her eyes in good nature.

Tyler shrugged, but it was mostly just his one good shoulder that rose and fell, "Sure then. You know the rules though."

"Don't get lost, and don't get caught by Galloway." She chimed and began to walk away.

"You know how to call me if you need me!" Tyler yelled after her.

I crossed my arms and glanced over at Peter, "So who put the baby in charge of babysitting?"

Peter laughed and Tyler snapped his gaze away from Izabella to me, "Hey, I'm not a baby."

"I heard she only ever leaves the medbay if it's with Tyler." Peter gave his little brother a soft smile. There was pride on his features, "She called him her hero."

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "She just is comfortable with me is all. She spent a lot of time with mom yesterday too."

"I gotta go. Political business and what not." Peter leaned over and hugged me tightly. I squeezed him tightly and thanked him again and again for the Grimlock surprise. "Anything for you, Aj. Later, Tyler. Don't get into trouble."

Tyler waved his brother off before hooking his good arm around me and dragging me in the opposite direction Peter was going in, "So you were heading to the gym right?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. Me too." He grinned, "How do you feel?"

I wrapped my own arm around his torso and leaned into him as we walked, "My ribs are still a little sore, but other than that I'm peachy. How about you?"

Tyler chuckled, "Considering I went toe to toe with an Ironhide drone, it's a miracle I lived to tell the tale." I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed again, "Don't worry, Ratchet, Jazz, Bluestreak, Peter, and mom already gave me the tenth degree. All separate lectures, all back to back."

"Good. You dumb baby boy." I chimed.

I recognized the hallway we were in. A few more turns and we'd be in the large training room. It wasn't the one I typically used, I liked the smaller gym on the other side of base just because it seemed like people used that one less. The one Tyler was dragging me to was the one soldiers ran their training exercises in usually and I tried to give them their space.

"Heard you let your boyfriend escape from Austin."

My eyes widened in confusion, "Who told you that?"

Tyler scoffed, "It was kind of obvious, Aj. Cade disappeared right-"

"No, no, no." I interrupted him, "Obviously, I let him go. Why wouldn't I? What I meant was, who told you he was my boyfriend?"

"Really? That's your concern?" Tyler laughed, "Joyce said it when he was telling us his side of the mission. He kept referring to the two of you as boyfriend and girlfriend." I rolled my eyes in annoyance, but Tyler continued, "And as to why you shouldn't have let him go, uhh, he has a mysterious Cybertronian artifact stuck on his arm? That should be concerning to all?"

I waved off his worry. "He's fine. I trust him and the artifact isn't a danger. Sort of. Also, he is not my boyrfriend."

We reached the double doors for the training room. Tyler stopped me and glanced down at me. Curse his giant height. He shook his head, "Aj, you know you have to tell me if Cade tries to contact you, right? It's my job to track him down."

I reached up and pinched his unbruised cheek, "Of course I will, baby boy."

"Aj, I'm serious."

"And so am I, baby boy." I cooed mockingly as I lied through my teeth, "You'll be the first to know."

I loved my Tyler with all my heart, but I wasn't about to sell out Cade to him. Tyler knew this too, I could see it on his face that he understood I wasn't going to help him out on this. He rolled his eyes and pushed open the doors, allowing me to enter first.

The training room was much larger than the one I usually worked out in. The ceiling was high, a double story room, and that was because the outer edges of the room had a metal walkway connecting it to the other rooms beside it, one of which being another hangar. The far wall had windows at the top, letting in natural sunlight, but the ceiling was also covered in floodlights.

In the middle of the room was a large blue mat for sparring while workout equipment filled the rest of the room. There was another door off to the side to the right, but I was pretty sure that just led to a locker room.

The next thing I noticed was the room was fairly crowded. There were multiple soldiers wearing matching gray shirts that read 'UHAC on the front with work out, black shorts. They also wore sparring gloves and helmets as they casually stood about. Lennox noticed us and started to walk over.

"What's going on?" I asked curiously. Truthfully, I knew the answer and it filled my veins with an excited thrill.

"We're sparring today as a training exercise. Two different units." Lennox answered. I recognized Hemi Kang and Joey Moretti standing beside a metal bleacher pushed against the wall talking. They hadn't noticed me yet.

"One of these units is mine, but-" Tyler began, but I didn't let him finish.

"Can I join?" I pleaded. Lennox's eyes widened, "Please, Lennox. Please?"

Lennox shook his head, "Aj, you're injured-"

"Barely!" I called out, "I've done longer fights with way worse injuries before. Since I got here I've been working out with the bag in the other gym, but I haven't fought against someone in so long. Please, I'm begging you."

Tyler grinned, "I wanna fight too-"

"You're injured." I pointed to his dislocated shoulder, "You're sitting out."

He scoffed and began to march away to his friends, "If that isn't the biggest double standard…"

Lennox looked back to me and I could see him sizing me up. His gaze drifted over my minor wounds and he crossed his arms. He glanced over his shoulder once, to his soldiers, then back to me. The corner of his lips twitched up in a smile, "If your sister finds out I let you fight against my soldiers, we'll both be in big trouble."

"What Aubrey doesn't know won't get either of us in trouble. That goes double for Ratchet." I replied with a smirk. I had this. The look in his eyes told me he was curious about what I could do in a fight. If all the talk he had probably heard was actually true.

Lennox shook his head in amusement as he motioned for me to follow him, "Tell me, is this where Tyler gets his 'I have an answer for everything' attitude from?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Well we both know the kid isn't clever enough to have come up with this amazing wit on his own."

Lennox laughed and reached down to dig through a box he had led me to. I could feel the gaze of some of the soldiers on me, but I kept my focus on Lennox. He pulled out a helmet and pair of sparring gloves. The sparring gloves were red and they were the type where they just covered the top side of my hands, my fingers were still out and available. The helmet was matching color, but I laughed at it.

"Really, Lennox?" He nodded and forced the helmet into my hands after I slipped on the gloves, "You're really making me wear this helmet?"

"Safety first."

I tucked the helmet under my arm, "You know, I've been punched in the head before. It isn't anything new, and that's only if your soldiers can land a hit there." He leveled a light glare at me. I pouted, "But Lennox I won't look as cool." He didn't budge. "Ugh, fine."

I forced the helmet on my head and Lennox walked away to address his soldiers. In total, there were probably around twenty of them or so. Tyler sidled up next to me. He grinned cheekily, "If you want to borrow my mouth guard you can."

"Ew, gross." I shoved him, "Who knows where you put that mouth?"

"Well-"

"Don't." I growled at him before his cheeky, dirty mind could say something I didn't want to hear him say. He chuckled and pulled out his phone to text. The soldiers crowded together as Lennox began to speak, Joey slid in beside me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders with a shit-eating grin.

"Long time no see, wifey." I rolled my eyes, but gave him a good-natured smile in greeting.

Lennox cleared his throat, "Alright, you guys know the drill. We got the Cybertronian unit up against the Pararescue unit today." There was cheering from both sides as he said the names. "Winner gets their tag on the wall, loser is training the rest of the day under Ironhide." I chuckled and Lennox looked over at me, "We also got a guest today. Aj Bradshaw is subbing in for Tyler while he rests."

"Is she gonna suck like Williams usually does too?" A guy called out. I glanced over to see he was a pretty big guy, but I didn't recognize him all that much. He must have been a Pararescue one. His blond hair was shaved close to his head and he was super bulked up.

Tyler let out a fake laugh, "That's rich coming from you, Byl. Who hit the mat first last time?"

"Focus up." Lennox barked, he must have known the two of them would keep going if he didn't put an end to it now. "Alright, let's have Kang and Ulmer up first."

The area began to clear as Hemi and some medium sized guy went to the center of the pad. I lifted my hand curiously, "Wait, wait, hang on." Lennox and a few others looked at me, "What are the rules for this thing?"

"There are no rules here, rookie." The Byl guy replied at me with a smug grin drawn across his face. Lennox nodded in confirmation.

I smirked in excitement, "Oh, y'all are gonna regret that."


Taylor wore her suit and sat on the side of the empty berth with her legs hanging off of it. Izabella sat a few feet away playing with her helmet and the glove she had taken off in order to text. Tyler had sent her a message that Aj was about to fight in one of the weekly sparring tournaments they had in place of him. The Cybertronian unit was going up against the Pararescue unit too. Andrew Byl was a part of that unit and was a total asshole. She wouldn't mind watching her aunt wipe the floor with his smug bullshit.

Ratchet continued to explain something to First Aid who was listening intently. Taylor had met First Aid once before, but it had been a while ago. Before she started working with Ratchet for sure. The slim red and white mech's visor glowed a bright blue as he hung onto every word the elder medic said.

'You start yet?'

Taylor smiled, 'No, not yet. Ratchet is still debriefing First Aid.'

'Def gotta meet up with First Aid later today. Missed the guy.'

'That is if Ratchet ever lets him free.' She replied and looked back up to see Ratchet still speaking, though his voice had raised an octave for some reason.

'Is he gonna let you free for lunch today or am I on my own, honey?'

'I should be clear by then. See you later, love.'

He sent her a quick heart as a reply making a smile slip onto her features. She put her phone away and looked over at Izabella who was wearing the helmet and glove while watching Ratchet and First Aid. Taylor chuckled and caught her attention. The little girl quickly pulled off the items, "Sorry."

"Don't be. You're curious, it's fine."

"So are you really going to help them fix Moonracer?"

"That I am." She smiled warmly at her before pulling her glove back on and latching it to the rest of the suit. The seam melded away, but Taylor was careful to double-check it all the way around. An energon leak would not be fun; she's already had one close call before and did not want to repeat that ever again.

She glanced over again at Izabella who was staring at Moonracer in worry. Taylor couldn't help but wonder about the girl's family. She told them she was alone, but she wouldn't explain it further than that. Granted, if she ever did it'd probably be to Tyler. The young girl trusted him.

"Taylor, are you ready?" Ratchet questioned. She gave him and First Aid a smile before pulling on her helmet.

"I'm all yours, Ratchet."


I wasn't sure how Lennox's bracket worked, and I wasn't gonna ask him as he sat on the bleachers with a datapad taking notes on it all, but each fight had a time limit of 7 minutes and it seemed like if you lost twice then you were eliminated. So far there had been five fights with two people being eliminated. The first had been a Pararescue soldier and then the second had been Joey himself.

"Listen, I had a big breakfast, ok? Please tell me you still love me, wifey." Joey pleaded from my side.

I gave Joey a sweet smile and set my hand on the side of his face, sparring glove and all, "Oh Joey." He leaned into my head and batted his eyelashes at me a few times, "You're dead to me, you loser."

His jaw dropped, "Aj, you're heartless…and I'm only more in love with you."

I rolled my eyes as Lennox called out the next fight, "Nutting and Bradshaw."

My eyes lit up as I jogged onto the mat. A girl about my height walked up as well. Her long blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail that stuck out of the helmet. It was a weakness, but it was one I'd resist using against her. My own hair was braided tightly and stuffed completely under my helmet.

"Good luck." She smiled at me in a warm manner. Aw, she seemed sweet.

"You too." I stuck my hand out for her to clap, and she did so happily. I was going to fucking destroy her.

Tyler blew his whistle, his designated job, and I put my hands up in front of my face. We circled each other twice before she threw out a punch. I blocked it with my hands, and lunged back a step to avoid the quick cross punch that followed it. I circled again before lunging forward. I jabbed at her hands, which covered her face, but followed it with a gut shot that had her stumbling back. Her hands lowered away from her face so I continued forward with another round of punches. One hit her hands; the other hit the side of her helmet.

She was quick to recover and began to throw punches at me that I weaved through and blocked. It was about this time that I realized hand to hand combat wasn't her field of expertise. All her moves were correct and she was quick, but they were very mechanical. She fought like someone who had only ever fought on a training mat before.

Maybe I'd hold back on fucking destroying her after all.

The soldier continued her series of attacks and I continued to block while mapping out her technique. She left her side open and I got in the position to kick her, but immediately stopped myself as I realized I was about to use my right, bionic leg. The freeze left me open enough that she managed to punch me in the face causing me to stumble back. I shook it off and lunged forward with a series of punches. She blocked the first few, but I kept the speed and strength up and didn't relent. Her hands lowered a few inches out of exhaustion, and they did so just long enough for me to send a hook punch to her head.

She tried to recover, but I sent another downward punch that knocked her to the ground. The Pararescue soldier tapped out after that, and the usual cheering after a fight ensued. I helped her up and she quickly congratulated me before heading back to a few soldiers she had been speaking to before hand.

The fight had been calm and reserved. I was hoping for something more intense. I glanced over at Lennox who looked up from his datapad to me. He raised a single eyebrow and I smirked at him in response. I held my hands up in a 'Is that all you got?' manner and amusement filled his face.

"Bradshaw and Gordon."

A guy stepped into the ring. He had a bounce in his step and a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes. He was bigger than me, maybe around 6'0" even with broad, muscled shoulders. His features were dark, both eyes and hair, but he looked friendly enough. He gave me a quick grin, Tyler blew his whistle, and then the soldier lunged forward and tackled me to the ground.

I landed on my back, not expecting that at all, but I recovered before he threw his first punch. My hands were up, my forearms taking the brunt of all his blows, but I focused my attention on rocking my hips back and forth to try and throw him off balance. After three more blows I managed to rock him up as he was throwing a punch and I pushed my knees into his back. The brace gave me enough strength to throw the larger man over my head onto his own back.

Before he could bounce up, I swung around and threw my left leg into his side knocking him over completely. This gave me enough time to jump to my feet. He rolled to his own, hands up, and I couldn't help but grin.

Now this was going to be a real fight.

He threw himself forward, throwing a strong cross as he did so, and I lunged forward and ducked under his arm. Two kidney punches, but before I could get a third in he spun around and caught me in the side of the head. I stumbled to the side, but managed to throw my hands up again just in time to block an uppercut punch to my face. I couldn't do any actual kicks with my left leg, I had avoided using it for so long because of the discomfort in my hip, that now it just wasn't in my routine. All my kicks came from the right, but I still didn't wanna accidentally kick one of Lennox's soldiers through the wall.

Gordon threw another punch and I ducked under it and then stepped another step closer so I was right in his space. I sent a flurry of punches to his chest and he stepped back to avoid, but I kept moving forward so I was never in his full length of reach. I hit him two more times in the chest and then sent an uppercut right under his jaw. I heard his teeth snap together as he stumbled back.

He shifted his weight back and lifted his leg to kick me right in the chest, but I sidestepped and caught his heavy leg in the crook of my arm. Before he could yank it back I quickly shoved it upwards so he was thrown onto his back.

Without hesitation, I threw myself on top of him and managed to punch him in the face twice before he threw me off. I rolled to my feet, hands up, as he wiped away the fresh blood that dripped down his nose.

Tyler blew his whistle, "Time!"

"Goes to Bradshaw." Lennox called out before making a note on his datapad.

I held my hand out, "Good job."

Gordon nodded, "Yeah, you got a nasty cross."

Tyler called out to me, "You're doing great, Lil'Bit. Making me proud!"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "What did you just call me?"

"Lil'Bit. 'Cause you're so small and adorable. It's cute isn't it?"

Lennox called out two other names so I stepped off the mat to Tyler who blew the whistle for them while still looking at me with mirth in his gaze. I pointed at him, "Call me that again, and I'll throat punch you, Tyler. You're old enough now that I won't feel any guilt whatsoever."

He laughed and held his thumb, index finger, and pinky out with a quick shake. The sign for 'I love you'. I returned it with a shake of my head and sat down next to him to watch the next fight.

The tournament continued on with more and more people being eliminated. I fought six more fights, each one harder than the last. I only came close to losing two. The first was when a girl managed to get me in a headlock that took me longer than necessary to get out of and the second was when a guy managed to hit me right where my cracked ribs were and my vision flickered for a second from the pain.

We were down to five people now. Three from the Cybertronian unit, one of which was me, and two from the Pararescue.

"You're not too bad."

I looked away from the fight between Hemi Kang and some random Pararescue guy to see the Byl guy who had mocked Tyler standing next to me. He wasn't too much taller than me, maybe a few inches, but he was heavily muscled.

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm Andrew Byl. Pararescue." He held out his hand for me to shake. I did so with a raised eyebrow, but the look of skepticism didn't deter him, "We'll probably be fighting next. You won't take it personal when I kick your ass, right? You'll still get a drink with me later?"

He winked at me and I shook my head, "I don't remember ever agreeing to wanting to get a drink with you in the first place, dude."

"Come on, I'll make it worth your while. We have a little bar on base for when we're off duty. It's small and kinda shitty, but you make do with what you got."

"No thanks."

"Come on." He egged again and pushed me lightly on the shoulder.

Ok, so he wasn't the 'take a hint' kinda guy.

"Andrew, I mean this sincerely when I say I would rather lie down in a hangar and let Ironhide run me over a couple hundred times, ok?"

His eyes narrowed and the fight in front of us was called. Unfortunately, Hemi had lost, but fortunately the next two names Lennox called out were 'Byl and Bradshaw'.

As I walked by Tyler he signed to me, 'Murder him, please.'

It was difficult to see because he had to hunch over to use the hand of his bad arm, but I got the message clear as day. I stepped into the ring and rolled my shoulders. I was already kind of tired which was pathetic of me, but I assumed it was just from not being at 100% when I started this whole ordeal.

I had seen Andrew fight multiple times now though so I knew he didn't just lunge in. He circled and waited for an open window. That gave me a few seconds to settle into the fight t least.

"I get it, you know." He sneered at me as he crouched over slightly with his hands held out, almost like he was in a wrestling match position, "You're just one of those robot loving groupies." His tone was harsh when he used the word 'robot' and it was that moment that I decided I might actually do what Tyler suggested and murder him, "An entitled robot loving groupie just like that bitch Taylor Williams."

Oh, he was going to die.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Tyler put the whistle in his mouth. The sound came out, but before it completely ended I threw my arm out and grabbed the rim of the back of Andrew's helmet. In a swift movement, I brought his head down while also bringing my right knee up. My brace smashed him in the face, I could feel the crunch of bone, as my hand ripped off his helmet. He howled in pain as blood poured from his nose. Both his hands held his face in pain and I took this moment to use all my strength in a cross punch that sent him to the floor.

"Aj!" Lennox barked at me.

I turned to the bleachers and held up the helmet for show, "I am so sorry, Lennox. My hand totally slipped. That's my bad."

"Did your knee slip too?" He scoffed with a shake of his head.

I gave him a smug grin and shrugged. He pulled his phone out and I could hear him calling for a medic. Andrew's buddies came over to try and help him up, but he just shrugged them off to glare at me, "You fucking bitch!"

His hands muffled his words and they sounded odd from the broken nose too. I smiled and threw his helmet into his gut, "Talk shit, get hit, Byl." I knelt down so I was eye level with his glare, "You say a bad word about my Cybertronians or my kids, and I will fuck you up. Don't forget it."

I walked over to sit next to Tyler, Joey, and Hemi who were all smiling with various degrees of smugness in their features. Joey and Hemi quickly fell into their own conversation about how he deserved it for some shit he had said a few weeks back, but Tyler signed to me in his own pathetic way again, 'That's my aunt.'

With a chuckle, I just gave him the 'I love you' sign again.

"Bit of a cheap shot. Attacking before the end of the signal."

The voice was deep and southern, and vaguely familiar? I looked up to see a man standing on the walkway above the training room exit. I narrowed my eyes at whoever was talking shit, but he disappeared only to reappear in front of me. I jumped in surprise. From here, I could see that the holoform belonged to Ironhide. He wasn't one of the mechs I spent a lot of time with, but I recognized the scar that went across his eye.

Lennox heaved a sigh, but I stood up, "They said no rules. Technically, did I even have to wait for the slagging whistle?"

Ironhide's holoform smirked, "Still, I can't say I see what the twins were talking about. So you can beat up a few humans. How's that special?"

A slow grin lit my face and I felt Tyler tug on my arm, "Aj, don't do anything stupid. If Ratchet-"

"Maybe you should fight me then." I pulled my arm away from Tyler.

"Aj, Ironhide, don't-" Lennox began, but Ironhide waved him off.

The holoform chuckled, "How would that even be fair for you?"

I shrugged, "It's ok if you're scared. Sunstreaker fought me, but if you're too worried-"

Ironhide's eyes widened, "Mat. Now."

That was almost too easy. I still hadn't ran into Sideswipe yet, but when I did boy was he going to love this story. Quickly, I gave Tyler a thumbs up before jogging to the mat where drops of Andrews blood still were.

"I won't take it easy on you, if you don't take it easy on me." I joked and Ironhide scoffed at the thought of me taking it easy on him. Lennox was still shaking his head, but he hadn't put a stop to us yet so there was that.

I tore off my gloves and threw them aside and then reached for my helmet but Ironhide stopped me, "Leave on the helm protection. Hatchet will be fragging pissed if I break your processors."

"News flash, Hatchet is going to kill both of you regardless." Lennox yelled out. He wasn't wrong. Still, the news didn't stop the entire crowd of soldiers from curiously looking on as Ironhide and I squared up against each other. There was a buzz of exhilaration and anticipation running under my skin.

This was going to be fun.


Sideswipe stood next to his brother who sat on the berth. Both of them watched as Ratchet and First Aid worked together on Moonracer with Taylor assisting them with small tasks. The female child they picked up from Austin was in the room too and she watched from a berth, but didn't speak.

'This is a waste of time. They aren't going to find anything.' Sunstreaker scoffed from over the bond. Sideswipe didn't respond, and instead just sent him reassuring waves.

The red twin watched as his favorite medic suddenly froze and went ramrod straight. The struts in his back seemed to lock up in tension. Sideswipe could also tell it was coming from a comm. Reading his favorite medic was simple, but with as much time as he spent in the medbay that was hardly surprising.

"Fraggit!" Ratchet barked in annoyance and stepped away from Moonracer. He ordered First Aid to continue.

The medic turned around to look at them. Sideswipe, out of habit, lifted his servos in innocence, "We didn't do anything."

"I know you didn't." Ratchet scoffed, "Ironhide just commed me."

"What'd he say?" Sunstreaker pressed. Was there something wrong on base?

Ratchet forward the comm message to them. They activated it and listened to Ironhide speak one, quick sentence.

::I'm going to spar with your youngling.::

Sideswipe snickered and Sunstreaker echoed his amusement. That explained why Aj's side of the bond was so happy right now. She was fighting a holoform. That had always been the ultimate challenge in her eyes.

"Go make sure my youngling doesn't get herself offlined. Otherwise, I'll have to reformat Ironhide into a toaster oven and Prime will have to find us a new Weapons Specialist." Ratchet barked. Sideswipe looked to his brother who nodded. The yellow twin was going to stay.

Sideswipe transformed and began the process of projecting his holoform into the training room. It would be faster than driving over, even at his speed. His holoform took shape on the walkway above the room and he was surprised to see that he wasn't the only holoform there.

Jazz was pacing the walkway and looked seconds away from jumping down to the room itself. In fact, he was probably going to. Sideswipe held his arm out, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jazz finally looked over at him with a glare that Sideswipe ignored, "Hold your human horses, Jazzy."

"Do you see this?" He motioned down to the mat where Aj and Ironhide were fighting. Sideswipe smiled as he watched Aj duck under hits and keep moving. Ironhide was a hard swinger. A hit from him really made its mark, but he was on the slow side. Aj actually stood a chance if she kept moving.

'She's keeping herself close. Not bad.' Sunstreaker hummed in agreement.

"She's doing good."

Jazz shook his head, "She said she was goin' to stop fightin'. Plus she's hurt right now."

Sideswipe shook his head, "She said she was going to stop fighting in the ring. Fighting is a part of who she is. It's fun for her. A part of you understands that, I know you do, Jazz."

Jazz's holoform heaved a sigh, "It's dangerous for her. She's goin' to get hurt."

Sideswipe glanced down again to see Ironhide catch his femme in the face with a solid hit. Aj went down hard, but she was quick to roll back up. Jazz gripped the walkway's railing with his servos tightly.

The twin shook his helm, "Let her have this, Jazz. She loves it. You can feel it through the bond."

Despite the hits she had taken, Aj's bond was still buzzing with excitement. Jazz rubbed his face with a servo and then faded from view. He ended up sitting next to Tyler on the bleacher, the mech had startled when in occurred, but Jazz didn't do anything to end the fight prematurely.

Sideswipe hummed to himself before leaning against the railing. Aj got Ironhide in the side with her brace and the mech's holoform stumbled, but he countered with a kick to her chassis that sent her down. Worry found root in his spark, but it was brushed away when he watched her stand back up. Ironhide wasn't going to truly hurt his femme, and the pride of watching Aj rise again and again was nearly blinding.

Sideswipe smiled to himself, 'Our femme is a warrior.'

Sunstreaker agreed completely and watched through the bond with him.


So maybe this had been a mistake.

Ironhide's fist hit me the face, again, and I felt my lip split open as I hit the mat hard. This was probably the fifth time I had hit the mat, and boy was I feeling it now. I had gotten a few good hits in, but Ironhide was named Ironhide for a reason. Even his holoform seemed to be invulnerable. I was glad a medic carted Andrew out of here before I started getting my ass kicked. He'd enjoy this way too much.

I forced myself up and Ironhide grunted before hitting me again before I was even fully up. My face was pressed against the mat for a second before I started to push myself up again with shaking arms.

"Again?" Ironhide said, but I couldn't tell what tone he used. I was too focused on making sure I didn't fall over. As I shakily got to my feet, I swallowed the blood that filled my mouth from when I bit myself during the last hit, and lifted my arms to block my face, "Do you not stay down?"

I waved my hand at him, "What? Me?" I forced a scoffed and tried to steady myself, "I'm not even- even tired yet! Why? You getting sleepy, old mech?"

Ironhide stepped toward me and I braced myself for another hit, but he just chuckled and set his large hand on my shoulder. I froze, waiting for the trap but not having enough energy to fight against it. He nodded, "I see what the twins mean."

"Uh, thanks?" I replied skeptically. Was the fight over? Oh thank God, I only had a few more moves left in me.

"Ratchet has been barking at me over the comm since this started."

"You in trouble, Hide?" I joked.

Ironhide chuckled, "He wants to see you."

The holoform fizzled away. I let my arms fall and just sat down on the mat. Lennox chuckled, "You ready for the next tournament fight? We got a couple more, Aj."

"Sure. I'm just gonna take a quick break. Mini coma. Don't mind me." I replied and let myself fall back onto the mat in exhaustion.

"How 'bout I carry you to the medbay first?" A familiar voice called out. There were footsteps and then Jazz's holoform was standing above me with a smile. The smile was worried though, I could tell.

I lifted my arms, "Jazz! I haven't seen you since Austin!"

"Let's catch up then, sweetspark." He reached down and scooped me up. I called out a quick goodbye to Tyler and them while Jazz took me away. He glanced at me, "That was reckless, Aj."

"Ironhide wouldn't hurt me for real. Could you imagine what Ratchet would do to him?" I laughed. My lip was busted and my cheekbone was bruised, I could feel it, but other than that and some exhaustion I felt ok. "How are you though? Last I saw you and Megatron were duking it out. Everyone told me you were ok but…"

Jazz squeezed me closer to him, "It'd take more than a Decepticon warlord to take me out. Came out mostly scratch free."

"Mostly?" I pressed.

"Nothin' Ratchet didn't patch up real good."

I nodded and then sighed, "Wow, Ratchet is going to murder me."

"Yupp."


Moonracer's procedure was halfway through, but he forced himself to stop. First Aid and Taylor needed a break and his youngling needed his attention anyways. He was going to take a look at Sunstreaker, but the mech and his brother slipped out at the mention of Aj coming in.

::We don't want her to worry.::

Ratchet sent an acknowledgement to the comm from the yellow mech. It was strange to even get an explanation from the more broody twin, but it made sense. Now Ratchet knew not to accidentally mention the twins to her at this time. Jazz's holoform came in with Aj and he pushed his worry about Sunstreaker to the side.

"How have you even survived this long?" Ratchet scoffed and walked over to take Aj carefully into his servo.

"Pure luck, I reckon." Aj replied cheekily.

Jazz spoke up, "Remember, swing by my place tonight."

"Got it." Aj replied and then Jazz dismissed his holoform. Knowing the saboteur his true form was probably in a meeting right now and he was just sending his holoform about to avoid being mentally present.

Ratchet carried Aj to a berth. Aj waved to Taylor who waved back before going back to removing her suit. She was heading off to lunch now he assumed.

"Where's the new guy?"

"He went to get energon." Ratchet replied before scanning his ward. Same injuries as before with a few new ones, but overall she was fine. "I got an interesting email from a human medic on base."

Aj smirked, "Oh yeah?"

"Yes. He stated that Air Force Pararescue Andrew Byl was in his clinic with a fractured zygomatic process and a broken nose."

Taylor chirped from her locker, "You broke his face!?"

"In my defense, he's a raging asshole." Aj crossed her arms. "Talk shit, get hit."

Ratchet lightly rapped her against the helm in response to her words. She smiled up at him sheepishly. Taylor spoke again from her locker as she pulled off her boots, "What shit did he say?"

Aj scoffed, "Firstly he called you a bitch. I was not having that."

That explained it. Ratchet shook his helm. Aj could never resist a fight with someone who threatened or misspoke about ones she loved. It was her, as the humans say, Achilles heel.

"Yeah, he asked me out once. I said no."

Aj laughed, "Yeah, he also called us 'robot groupies'. I didn't like him calling my mechs robots. Plus, how stupid is he?" She laid down on the berth and stretched. He shook his helm at her. "Like we'd be groupies for our mechs."

"What…What do you mean?" Taylor spoke up and Ratchet could hear the hesitance in her voice. He glanced from one to the other.

"I mean, the notion is ridiculous." Aj sat up and began to stretch her legs, "Like we'd look at any of our mechs like that. They're Cybertronian."

Ratchet stiffened as she watched Taylor's eyes widen. The femme shifted from pede to pede before quickly calling out that she had to go to lunch and excusing herself. Ratchet put a servo to his face. That would be sure to stir up quite an issue. He hoped Taylor didn't take the statement personally. Aj had just never been in the position to even consider a Cybertronian human relationship, but that was mostly because the femme was oblivious.

"So how's Moonracer?" Aj asked. She didn't even realize the dilemma that had just sprouted in her niece's mind. Ratchet shook his helm at her again and she lifted an eyebrow at him in response, "What?"


Taylor pulled her knees to her chest as she sat on the couch in the break room for the computer analysts. It was a random spot, but she and Tyler used to come to this break room a lot. It had the best coffee hands down. More than that, right now it was useful because all the computer analysts had either left or were working and the room had rather limited access.

'Taylor, I know you're in there. Please come out?'

Rather than answering the text message she rested her head on top of her knees. This shouldn't be bothering her, but still worry filled her mind.

"If you really thought a conveniently placed break room was going to stop me, you were very wrong, honey."

His voice filled the room and Taylor couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Somehow even a simple statement like that her heart skip a beat. It was dumb, but everything he did just made her happy. Shouldn't that be enough?

He pulled a chair along with him and took a seat in front of her. Taylor lifted her gaze to land on his bright blue eyes, which were currently filled with nothing but concern.

"Honey, talk to me. You've been acting strange since lunch and I'm worried." Smokescreen reached forward and took her hand in his. His holoform was still in his military uniform. His shift must have just ended.

"Andrew called me a bitch today." Taylor said and she watched Smokescreen's eyebrows furrow and his shoulders stiffen, "Aj responded by breaking his nose and cheekbone."

Smokescreen nodded, "Good. He deserved it! Slag, next time I see him-"

"But Aj also said the idea of a 'robot groupie' was ridiculous. She can't even fathom the thought of a Cybertronian and a human…" Taylor's words trailed off. She knew Aj hadn't meant the words to hurt, she didn't know the truth after all, but it filled her heart with a kind of worry she hadn't felt in a long time. In fact, the last time she felt this kind of fear was right before she told her mom about this relationship.

"Taylor, she doesn't know, and Aj just… I don't think she's ever even really gave it true thought." Smokescreen shrugged and squeezed her hand, "If she did, I'm sure her opinion would change. It was just her talking without thinking."

Taylor shook her head, "I just can't help but think… Smokey, what if she doesn't look at me the same after she finds out? I can't keep this a secret from her forever. It isn't fair to you, but… I can't stand the thought of Aj-"

Her voice broke and she hastily swiped away tears. The thought of her aunt, her hero, looking down on her or rejecting her broke her heart. Growing up, all she wanted to do was make her parents and Aj proud. When peopled sneered at her and told her a pretty woman couldn't be a good engineer she did what Aj told her to do and did it anyway. Nobody would make her feel small.

"Taylor." Smokescreen moved from his seat to sit next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "I'll admit, I don't know Aj as well as some of the mechs here, but if there is one thing I learned, and I know this fact without a shadow of a doubt, it's that she loves you and your brothers more than life itself." He used his other hand to brush the hair from her face and let it linger on her chin, "Taylor, she destroyed a male's face just because he said one wrong word about you. I truly believe that she would never look at anything you did negatively."

Taylor smiled at his words and comfort and leaned her forehead against his, "You're right." She chuckled and shook her head lightly, "You're so right."

"I have that habit." Smokescreen joked.

Taylor leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Smokescreen kissed back without hesitation and buried one of his hands into her loose blonde hair. She broke away, but he leaned forward to plant a quick second kiss on her lips with a grin. Smokescreen helped her off the couch and kept his hand around her shoulders as they walked.

"Can we stay in your berth room tonight?" She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Whatever you want. Are you sure though? I know you've been staying in your apartment because you didn't want Aj to see you missing."

Taylor kissed his jawline, "I'm sure."