A/N: Y'all i straight up sat down and typed all of this in one setting holy shit i am tired and seeing double. Sorry about any grammar errors (i'm editing at 2 AM its a miracle i can still spell my name) and that it's a little short. I have the chapters finally planned out in exact degree so this is where this one ends. Hope y'all enjoy! Love y'all lots! Leave me comments, im gonna go pass tf out (:


Chapter Twenty-Three:

First Date


"Being able to put someone else's happiness before yours… that speaks loudly. That's love; in the most pure, beautiful, and painful way…" -Unknown


Simmons could hear music blasting through the apartment door. He didn't recognize the song, but it was loud and fast. In fact, the closer he listened the more sure he was that the song wasn't even in English. Simmons banged his fist against the wooden door as loudly as he could to try and be heard over the music.

"Hey, miscreant! Open the door!" He barked and hit his fist against the door harder.

"Fuck off, Simmons!" Her voice was barely audible over the music.

Simmons rolled his eyes and grabbed the door handle. Luckily for him, she had never locked the damn thing. He pushed into the room, flinched at the volume of the foreign music, and glared at the woman who was currently sitting on her kitchen island, criss-cross, while drinking from a very large bottle of rum.

"What the hell is all this?" Simmons motioned to her and the empty boxes resting on her couch, "Are you having a mid-life crisis or something?"

"I'm packin', dick." Aj scoffed and took another swig of her drink. Simmons had never seen her intoxicated, but he was absolutely positive that she was absolutely plastered. At 2 PM on a Tuesday no less. He crossed the room and turned off the speaker. She leveled a glare at him, "Excuse you, that's my music."

Simmons shook his head, "For crying out loud are you still moping? I thought you were over the solider thing."

"Are you still talkin'? I thought you had figured out no one wants to hear a single thing outta 'yer sweaty, jumpsuit wearin' dumb as shit self." Aj replied without missing a beat. Her words weren't slurred, but they did have more of a southern twang to them then they usually did. She also managed to maintain her wit despite the intoxication.

Color him impressed.

He didn't reply but watched as she took another swig. Simmons knew Aj hadn't taken the training thing well, this sight was evidence enough, but he had thought she had gotten over it mostly. Lord knew all the big players on base were bending backwards to try and comfort her. Simmons had seen Autobots and humans alike trying to cheer her up and she'd grin and bear their words, but the woman had lost a bit of her fire since she flunked out of training last week.

"What's with the boxes?"

"I'm packin'." Aj repeated and set the bottle down and leaned back on her hands, "Gotta move off base obvi, since I no longer have access to UHAC an' all its bells an' whistles…" She stretched out her legs, flexing her toes a few times, "As it turns out the only thing in this apartment I even own are my clothes…so packin' is kinda useless. Plus, I can't take my liquor with me since I'll be movin' in with Aubrey. Gotta drink it up."

Simmons stepped forward and swiped the bottle away from her before she could grab it again. Aj stuck her bottom lip out in an annoyed pout, but didn't fight him for it. Simmons took a quick sip, "Why no liquor at your sister's place?"

"She's a wine woman, Lennox is a beer guy, and she's always hated liquor since dad…" Aj's eyes narrowed, "I'm drunk not stupid, Simmons. What the fuck do you want?"

Simmons capped the bottle and stuck it back into her fridge. He smirked at her, putting his hands behind his hands, "Well as you probably know, I have replaced Galloway as the new Human Liaison here on base." She snickered and he ignored it. "And I'm here to offer you a job."

Aj blinked, "Wha-?"

Simmons sighed and reopened the fridge and pulled out a bag of half a loaf of sliced bread along with a water bottle. He set the bottle beside her and shoved the bread into her hands motioning for her to start eating it, "I'm the new liaison and I need an assistant. We've always worked so well together—"

"Bullshit." Aj scoffed with a mouth full of bread.

"Plus, this works out perfectly for all of us. I won't have to train someone to be around the Autobots and you won't get your drunk ass kicked off base."

Aj silently ate bread, hopefully mulling this offer in her head. He stood patiently and waited for her to respond. Simmons wasn't going to mention that Jazz had threatened him with bodily harm if he hired some random person from D.C. The TIC mentioned it wouldn't help his argument with her.

"Ok." Aj finally mumbled between her bites of bread. She grabbed the water bottle and downed half of it in one go. "When do we start?"

Simmons pulled the contract out of his back pocket and began to unfold it, "Well obviously not today since you're drunk as shit." Aj winked at him and made a finger gun motion in his direction. He set the paper down on the island by her legs, "Sign this. Maybe wait until you're sober enough to read it, but I promise the pay is fair."

Aj held out her hand and he supplied her with a pen. He wasn't surprised that she wasn't going to take the time to read it. Every Autobot on the planet would curb stomp him if he tried to take advantage of this tiny mess of a human though so he didn't even play with the idea of it. Besides, he was ready to take this job and succeed.

She signed her name and dropped the pen, "Oh."

"Oh, what?" Simmons took the paper and folded it back up to put in his pocket.

Aj blinked, "So this is what immediate regret feels like. Huh."

Simmons rolled his eyes and moved to leave, "We start bright and early tomorrow so sober up, pirate."

He could see her flip him off out of the corner of his eye, but he chose to just chuckle under his breath and continue to leave.


Assistant. Secretary. Aide. Clerk.

It seemed that no matter what word I tried to use to describe my new job, I hated it all the same. Simmons offered the word 'subordinate' but didn't speak it again after I threatened to choke him out with his own damn tie. It was an easy enough job though. Basically, I kept track of his life. If he was on base, I followed him around to meetings and wrote down everything he said. He said he wouldn't drag me off base for any meetings unless I wanted to go or if he really needed me.

"You're doing good, kid." Simmons clapped me on my back. "Picked up on things really quick and it's only your first day."

"My job is to get you coffee, write down notes, and schedule meetings, Simmons." I shook my head, "It ain't hard."

Simmons nodded, "Well I think we're done for the day. Break for lunch then take the rest of the day. Just don't forget the morning meeting tomorrow."

I gave him a quick thumbs up, "Anything else I need to know, boss?"

"Hmm, just one rule I think we should go over." Simmons face grew solemn and I raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in mood. He pointed at me, "Do not fall in love with me, kid."

I blinked and a million different responses flashed through my mind. Slowly, I released a long sigh and nodded at him, "I will do my best, sir."

Simmons walked away without another word and I rolled my eyes. He wasn't a bad guy. He was a weird as shit guy, but not bad. Plus, him doing this for me was a big favor. If it wasn't for him, I'd be leaving the base by the end of this week. Which, granted, isn't the end of the world, but it'd still sting.

Everything kind of stung to be honest.

I felt…down. Wilted. I felt like I had taken a hell of a beating and not bounced back. Which sucked because if there was one thing I was good at it was bouncing the fuck back. So, I didn't understand why I still felt this bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't understand why I still felt like such a failure. Everyone emphasized that I hadn't failed them. Aubrey, Lennox, Epps, Tyler, Taylor, the rest of the squad, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Jazz, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Optimus, and on and on and on. They all took the time to reassure me and promise that this was for the best and that I shouldn't feel so beat down, but I couldn't swallow that medicine quite yet. I also didn't want to argue with them about it which led to a lot of fake smiles and fake reassurances to their reassurances.

Basically, I was in a rut and I couldn't find my way out.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a text from Izabella. It was a picture of her and Annabelle at a gymnastics studio. Apparently, the older girl was teaching the younger a few tricks. Izabella said she wasn't interested in cheerleading, but she did used to do gymnastics. I set her a quick reply to be careful and slid the phone back into my pocket.

I walked down the hall avoiding eye contact with anyone I passed while my heels clacked against the tiles. That was one neat thing about this job. It had me wearing nice clothes again rather than just a rotation of jeans and sweatpants. Plus, thanks to Wheeljack's newest brace for me, I could fit into the navy, skinny cut dress pants I wore. Granted, it was designed to fit into a super suit of armor and not these pants. That bitter taste came back and I quickened my pace to the main hanger.

As I entered the hanger a real smile slipped onto my face at the sight of the large, yellow warrior grumpily talking to Blaster. Sunstreaker was finally up on his own feet. Ratchet had limited what he could do. For example, he wasn't mission ready and the mech wasn't even allowed to transform into his alt mode yet. Still, progress was progress.

A silver blur bounced off Blaster to the floor, startling a group of soldiers in the process, and I watched as Steeljaw walked towards me. I knelt down to greet him, letting my hands run down his neck.

"Long time no see, friend."

"Where is your son?" Steeljaw questioned and I chuckled. For some reason, he considered Bear my child which I guess wasn't too off base. I definitely doted on the pup like he was my own flesh and blood.

I shrugged, "Bear is on a mission with Lennox and the crew. They needed him to sort through the debris of a town that the drones wrecked."

"Hmm." Steeljaw nuzzled against my hand, "You are in distress."

I sucked in a sharp breath and chuckled, "Well, I was just stuck with Simmons all morning. That'll put anyone in distress."

Quickly, I stood up and began to walk toward Sunstreaker with Steeljaw keeping pace with me. Blaster spotted me and gave me a quick wave. We passed quick pleasantries before Blaster scooped up Steeljaw and went on his way. Sunstreaker stared down at me with a question in his eyes.

"Don't do it." I pointed up at him.

Sunstreaker ignored me, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I replied firmly. Sunstreaker knelt down in front of me and based on the look he had he didn't take my word for it. Still, I pressed the lie, "How many times do I have to tell you guys that I'm fine?" Sunstreaker narrowed his eyes at me. I clapped my hands, "How are you? Pain?"

Sunstreaker shook his head, "Not much. Ratchet has me on the good stuff. Tired of doing nothing though."

"I know. I know how much that sucks." I motioned to my knee, "But I gotta say it's so nice to see you up and about, Sunshine."

Sunstreaker chuckled, "Don't call me that."

"I'd ask if you wanna walk me to the cafeteria, but if Ratchet sees you going down into your alt mode he'll lock us both into the medbay." I joked.

Sunstreaker smiled then glanced around briefly before looking back to me, "You look really nice today."

"Apparently the US Government frowns on their employees dressing like hobos. That cuts out like 80% of my closet but…" I readjusted the light blue button up short I wore and began to roll up my sleeves. "But, I do clean up well. I know."

"Go to lunch." Sunstreaker snorted. His fingers lightly brushed the top of my head before he stood back up. I gave him a wave and smile before turning around and pulling my phone out to text Cade. We were supposed to meet for lunch at noon, but I figured he wouldn't mind meeting me half an hour early. It wasn't like he was ever very busy on base. It was one of his main complaints.

My assumption had been right, and Cade met me outside the cafeteria. He was leaning against the wall dressed in jeans and a plain shirt with an open flannel over it. He spotted me and pushed off the wall meeting me halfway down the hall, "Hey there, I like the business professional look."

"Shut up." I snorted, "Ready for an early lunch?"

Cade nodded, "Yupp, but I had an idea I wanted to run by you."

"What's up?"

"How about we do lunch off base? I'm thinking In and Out. I'm craving a good burger not made on a military base."

I blinked, "First off, I've never had In and Out."

"That's a sin."

"Second, I think there's a little flaw with your plan?" I crossed my arms, "I mean, do you really think they're gonna let us leave base?" I motioned to the both of us. "You're a wanted person of interest with a creepy artifact on your arm and the last time I left base without permission it was with Galloway on some sacrificial death march."

Cade made a clicking noise with his tongue, "You're right. You're right. Except… I never had you pegged as someone who followed the rules so closely."

I chuckled and a smirk grew on my lips at his tone. He grinned in response and I nodded, "Right, well as you can see", I motioned to myself, "I'm a professional now. I don't just obey the rules, I reinforce them."

Cade hummed and took a step closer to me. He was only a step away and close enough that I had to lift my head to look him in the eye, "Mhmm. You're practically a prettier version of Simmons or Prowl."

"It feels like you're challenging me."

"I would never."


Tyler walked into Wheeljack's lab. The mech scooped him up and set him on the counter. Tyler could tell the mech was talking, rambling more than likely, but he couldn't hear a word. He tried to focus his eyes on the mech's lips, but reading a Cybertronian's lips were a feat he didn't think he would ever master.

Tyler waved at him to catch his attention and signed, 'I'm picking up nothing, Jack.'

Wheeljack's face fins lit up and he quickly transformed down into his alt mode. His holoform popped up and gave him the universal sign for 'sorry' with a sheepish look. Tyler chuckled, "Don't sweat it."

Tyler sat still as Wheeljack worked on his new hearing aids. It was about that time that the Engineer updated his and all his siblings' health needs. He knew the mech had already taken care of Peter and would probably be seeing Taylor later this afternoon. The bummer of it ending up today of all days though was that he was missing out on a mission. Luckily, it was a small mission, mostly clean up and rescue, which meant his presence wouldn't be missed for the most part.

"—ow about now? Can you hear me?" Wheeljack's voice came in through the piece in his ear, but it was a little pitchy.

Tyler flinched, "Needs some tweaking a little. I'm getting some weird feedback on it."

Wheeljack toyed with it a little more and the problem was solved. Tyler grinned at the mech, "You're magic as usual, Jackie."

"It's my pleasure, Tyler. Just try not to lose these."

"No promises." He shrugged. His phone pinged and he pulled it out to look at a really odd message on his phone, "Huh."

Wheeljack dismissed his holoform and was back in his main form, "What is it?"

"Aj just stole my truck."

There was a beat of silence where neither of them spoke, only stared at each other. Finally, Wheeljack shook his head, "What do you mean she stole your vehicle?"

"The guy working the gate texted me. He just said my truck rolled through with Aj behind the wheel." Tyler replied while typing a reply. He lied and told the guy that he lent his truck to her so she could go visit his mom. Tyler wasn't a snitch. "Weird huh?"

"I…I don't know what to do with this information." Wheeljack rubbed the back of his head, "Shouldn't we…tell someone? Ratchet? Optimus? Prowl?"

Tyler shook his head, "Nah. I trust her. Plus, I think she needs this."

Wheeljack wilted at his words, "She's still struggling isn't she?"

Tyler didn't reply. He didn't have to. Everyone knew that Aj was still mourning over the situation. There was nothing that could be done by them though. This was something she needed to work through, and Tyler understood that. Still, it made him curious.

Where was Aj going?


Cade threw off the blanket covering him as he sat up from the floorboard of the backseat. I glanced at him over my shoulder with a smirk and watched as he climbed into the passenger seat beside me.

"Happy now? I'm probably as wanted as you are now." I joked, "Simmons might even fire me."

Cade scoffed, "The moment Jazz told him to hire you, Simmons hasn't shut up about you. There's no way he would fire you now."

Jazz? Simmons hadn't mentioned that to me. It made sense though now that I thought about it. Jazz had said, the moment Lennox broke the news to me, he had said he'd find me a new job. He had assured me of that. Guess he was true to his word. I should've felt thankful and happy at that fact, but for some reason the act rang hollow in my chest.

My thoughts snapped back to the present when Cade reached forward and turned the volume up on some country station that Tyler had left his radio on. Cade grinned at me, "So do you steal your nephew's truck often?"

"If he didn't want me to take it he shouldn't have shown me where he kept it." I replied. Tyler had showed me the truck ages ago when I showed up in the universe for the sole fact that it was the same truck as the one I drove in Alabama. Not the exact, exact same obviously, but it was the same make, model, year, and color. "So what's the plan?"

Cade grinned, "We party in Vegas until our asses get busted. I say we make it until at least 3 PM."

"I think we can make it to 5 PM."

"Guess that depends if Tyler tells on us once he finds his truck missing."

I shook my head, "I ain't related to no snitch."

The rest of the trip into the city was filled with small talk, but I didn't mind it. I couldn't exactly say I was in the mood for a random adventure or a 40-minute road trip into Vegas, but Cade made it very easy. He kept the conversation light and kept me laughing. He'd tell me stories about his daughter or his life or about dealing with Simmons on base. Lord knew he had plenty of stories about Simmons and Ratchet going off on each other. Cade had his money on Ratchet winning out in the end, but as much as I loved the mech I put my own dough on Simmons. The guy was too oblivious to be hurt and annoying enough to make you wish for death.

I pulled the truck onto the strip and immediately met traffic. Cade clapped his hands though, "Welcome to Vegas!"

"I've definitely been here before you know that, right? Like Aubrey gave me the whole tour of sin city which is ironic if you know my sister." I chuckled.

"That's perfect." Cade said, "Because I've never been here before."

I laughed loudly and we drove further onto the strip until we found a random lot to park the truck on. We hopped out and met each other by the tailgate. Cade pulled out his wallet, "So I have 3 dollars."

"Hm." I lifted the keys to grab at the smaller wallet that held my ID and a credit card, "I have zero dollars but one card."

Cade shook his head, "A card will give us away. You gotta think like a criminal, Aj."

"Excuse you, I actually was a criminal, Mr. Mechanic/Inventor." I scoffed with a laugh.

"Well then what's the game plan?" I held out my hand to him and he looked surprised, but the surprise melted into a smile as he took it. Without another word, I led him out of the lot toward the main street where the crowds were. "Last time we followed your plan we ended up fighting a bunch of drones, just a quick reminder."

I scoffed as we weaved through people with ease, "Do you remember the part where we survived? Yeah, you're welcome."

"I remember the part where I kept Megatron from crazy murdering you." Cade laughed. He shook his head once then cleared his throat, "Speaking of Austin though, how much convincing would it take for you to consider this our first date out in the city instead of Austin?"

The word 'date' made my entire face heat up, but he didn't relent and just waited for me to reply. I twisted my lips, "It would take a lot actually. See I'm kind of terrified of first dates."

"You? You're terrified of first dates?"

"Very much." I admitted but kept my joking tone. "I think if Austin was our first date then that means I don't have to be nervous about…today." Cade nodded and I kept going. "Plus, the date in Austin set the bar solow that now it'll be easy for me to razzle dazzle you with my award-winning personality!"

Cade barked out a laugh, "You really don't have to worry about that, Aj. I was dazzled pretty good the moment you walked into the room and kicked a dent in the bed I was handcuffed to."

I winked at him, "Healthcare destruction is a passion of mine, what can I say?"

Cade squeezed my hand in his, "So what's this plan again?"

"Oh, we're gonna turn your 3 dollars into thousands. Duh." I replied and pulled him into one of the open casinos right on the strip. A cloud of cigarette smoke immediately overcame us along with the sound of slots loudly ringing all around us. Being on a casino floor was an other worldly experience. The sound and smells were overwhelming and the lack of windows or a view of the outside really wrecked your sense of time.

Cade nodded as I led him through the casino, "You know I think every gambling addict in the world has said they'll turn 3 dollars into thousands before."

"Yeah, but I'm special." I replied and stopped at a large roulette table that was set to automatically just keep rolling on its own. I turned and held out my other hand. Cade shrugged and handed over his three measly bucks. I shoved them into the machine and then sat down in the seat. Cade watched from over my shoulder as I glanced at the past numbers that had been landed on.

"Red." I picked the broad option and we both waited on bated breath for the ball to stop rolling. It got stuck on Red 12 and we won $3 along with our original 3. Cade mumbled something under his breath about 'a lucky guess'. I bet another $3 on red. This time the ball landed on Red 30. "Lucky guess, I guess."

Cade blinked and sat down next to me in the empty seat, "Wait how are you doing this?"

"Gotta go with your gut." I shrugged and bet another $3 this time on odd numbers. The ball stopped on Red 7. Now we were at $12. I bet on evens this time and the ball rolled to Black 11. I gave him a sheepish smile, "Ok, it isn't foolproof."

"Gut, huh?" Cade nodded and leaned forward. He put the rest of our money, all $9, on the dozen option of '1-12'. My eyes widened and we both watched nervously until the ball stopped on Red 5. We both threw our hands up and cheered as if we had won big when in reality all we had done was bumped our total up to $27.

We made a few more bets and cashed out when we got to $32. Cade nudged me with a grin, "My turn to show off. Follow me."

He led me over to where the tables were and sat down at a blackjack table. I kept $10 in my back pocket but handed him the rest. He got his chips, which looked a little pathetic compared to the guy across from him on the other side of the dealer who had stacks on stacks. Cade played a couple rounds and he was actually doing pretty good. I wasn't as familiar with this game, but I assumed the same aspect of 'follow your gut' applied.

"Wow, you are pretty good." I leaned on his shoulder as he won another round. He had double his money so far. I clapped his shoulders with my hands and chuckled, "I guess you're right. Counting cards really does work. That's super cool."

The dealer's eyes shot up at us blown wide in surprise. Cade opened his mouth but his argument fell out in a garbled mess. Five minutes later we found ourselves outside the casino back in the hot Nevada sun.

"You just got us thrown out of a Las Vegas strip casino." Cade said in disbelief while I stood beside him laughing. "Legitimately thrown out."

I laughed harder and shook my head, "I am so sorry."

Cade began to chuckle to himself, "You're the worst. You know that?"

"Oh, I'm aware. Look on the bright side though, now you can say you were thrown out of a major casino." I lightly shoved him, "That's ballsy."

"Why do I feel like this isn't the first time you've been thrown out of a casino?"

"Hey, this is my first casino." I argued. "I have been thrown out of other places though. This was just on my bucket list."

Cade shook his head and grabbed my hand, "Well, I'm so glad to help you with your goals."

I pulled out the ten-dollar bill I had saved and waved it at him, "Will this buy us In and Out?"

"You're lucky because it will." Cade snatched the dollar away. "Now help me find one, I know they gotta have one around here somewhere."


Sunstreaker moved around the medbay sorting through some of Ratchet's spare parts. The medic always needed help, and since he literally had nothing else to do right now it seemed like a good distraction. By helping him out here it gave Taylor the day off to hang out with Smokescreen and Bumblebee and he didn't mind doing the small femme that favor.

He sensed the figure before he even got close and heaved a sigh. There was no stopping this. Sideswipe rushed forward and tackled Sunstreaker into a tight hug so he was hanging off his back awkwardly. Ratchet barked out angrily from his office and Sunstreaker cursed at his brother but he couldn't help but smile.

"Get off, Sides." Sunstreaker chuckled.

"You've missed me." Sideswipe argued.

Sunstreaker rolled his optics, "You've been by my side in the medbay non-stop. I'm almost sick of you."

"It's different and you know it."

It was different and he did miss this. He missed everything about not being injured. The fact that he was now allowed to walk around and be free of Ratchet's ever watchful eye was a blessing. It was almost ironic that he came back to work here in said free time.

"Bluestreak told me Aj is off base right now, did you know that?"

"Yeah", Sunstreaker nodded and he motioned over his back to the office, "Ironhide commed Ratchet about it and Hatchet had a spark attack."

Sideswipe glanced over at him before hopping off his brother and sitting on the counter where the materials Sunstreaker worked with were, "He looks ok now."

"I told him she needed a break. He gets it."

Sideswipe bobbed his helm in understanding. It hurt them to see how out of it their femme had been after the training fiasco. She had worked so hard and she deserved it so much, but they also understood at the same time. It was a tough position to be in. Sideswipe wanted nothing more than to kidnap Aj and take her on vacation to get her mind off things. That had been his literal plan until Sunstreaker reminded him that would be a bad idea. She needed to work through this, and they couldn't push her through it. Aj needed to take it at her own pace.

"Did you know Cade is with her?"

Sunstreaker's servo slipped and he accidentally ripped a hole right through one of the repair parts, "Frag it."

"What was that?" Ratchet barked out.

"Nothing." Sunstreaker called back in a slight panic. He tried to push the hole back together and mend it as well as he could. Sideswipe snickered as he struggled and Sunstreaker resisted the urge to beat his brother with the part. "What did you say?"

Sideswipe vented air, "Cade is with her. She disappeared at lunch time, which she usually spends with him, and I haven't seen him since."

"Oh." Sunstreaker nodded, "Good."

"Not good. He's trying to steal our femme, Sunny."

"Don't call me that." Sunstreaker replied out of habit, "And she's not our femme. Not really." Sideswipe rolled his optics and groaned. Sunstreaker continued, "Sides, don't get involved. I'm serious. You know why."

They had talked about it before. Sideswipe nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'm still allowed to pout about it as long as it's not in front of her. You said so yourself."

"That's fair." Sunstreaker agreed halfheartedly. He worked quietly as his brother just relaxed beside him. His spark was still on the weaker side, but it was healing on its own now and being able to feel his brother without the haze of medication suffocating it was amazing. At the thought of bonds, he hesitantly reached over the one to Aj and felt a flare of happiness.

He smiled and Sideswipe leaned against his shoulder. Sideswipe hummed happily and the two brothers just let the peace of their bonds wash over them.


I nodded, my mouth full of burger, "Ok this is pretty good I'm not gonna lie."

"It's not Whataburger, but it's a very close second." Cade pointed at me while holding his cup of water. After buying burgers and fries for both of us we had no money left for drinks.

I shook my head, "I've never had Whataburger either."

Cade sank in his seat and glared at me, "What?" I smiled and shook my head. He scoffed, "What?"

"The areas I've lived in didn't have this place or Whataburger." I argued. I recognized the burger joint's name as the one that was very popular in Texas. He didn't lift his glare, "Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault."

"I've never been so disappointed in someone before. I thought we had something, but I don't know now."

I blushed and threw a napkin at him. Cade chuckled and took another sip of his water as we continued to eat. It had taken us nearly an hour to find an In and Out and then walk to it. There was no point in getting back in traffic since the place was off the strip so we chose the long march in the heat. Nevada heat was different than Alabama heat though. Walking in my business outfit in Alabama would've straight up killed me and left me a corpse lying in a puddle of my own sweat, but in Nevada it just felt like I was walking behind a guy who held a hairdryer on high in front of my face. The desert was dry as hell.

"So, what's the news on you getting off base for good?" I questioned while balling up my trash and setting it aside.

Cade matched my actions and shrugged, "There's no telling. We're no closer in figuring out this thing", he pointed to his artifact, "And something tells me even once they figure it out… they won't want me walking out in the world alone."

"Right."

"And I don't even want to think about being around Tessa until I know some drone or Decepticon isn't gonna come knocking on my door."

I nodded firmly, "Of course. If anyone is gonna figure this out it'll be Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Perceptor. Not that I've met Perceptor but I've heard good things."

"He seems alright. Kinda nerdy, but I didn't expect anything less than that." Cade crossed his arms on the table and leaned against them, "What about you? You gonna stick with Simmons? Do that liaison work?"

I pressed my lips together and forced a dry chuckle out, "Good question. Good question. I never saw anything resembling politics in my future. I don't think dealing with those stuffed up jackasses is something I wanna do long term."

"Yeah, no offense, but I don't think I can see you working in the Senate or Congress."

I laughed and shook my head, "Unless they get really cool about a lot of things really quick, I don't think they'll even let me in the door." I waved my hand, "Honestly, I don't think I can work in a job long term where I'm not allowed to body slam someone who annoys me."

Cade reached across the table and set his hand on top of mine, "You'll figure it out, you know? I know you will."

"Eventually I guess." I shrugged. Suddenly the walls of this In and Out were beginning to feel suffocating as those same old thoughts plagued me. I cleared my throat, "You wanna walk around some?"

"Sure." Cade stood and grabbed our trash. I helped him out and we both walked back out into the hot sun.

Cade shrugged out of his flannel and tied it around his waist. We walked down the strip again talking about random topics. We got pretty far down when Cade motioned toward someone off to the side. I glanced over to see a random guy wearing a dilapidated suit that I think was supposed to be Mickey Mouse. The black fur was matted with something sticky and the helmet/mask was a definite knock off with eyes that looked in two separate directions and a random patch half covering a hole in the back. The guy had it lifted and resting on top of his head enough so he could smoke a cigar while standing out in the sun.

"You wanna take a picture with Mickey Mouse?" Cade pushed me toward the guy.

I laughed and struggled away, "No! Absolutely not!"

"Come on, I'll rustle up a couple bucks for the tip."

When I grabbed his arm and dragged him away from Mickey's creepy doppelganger he didn't fight me very hard. We finally found a spot under one of the bridges to the other side of the road where we could sit on a bench in the shade.

"Hey Cade." I said softly.

He leaned against the bridge behind us, "Yeah, what's up?"

I didn't speak up right away. Instead, I just let my thoughts roll in my head trying to grasp something solid. I sighed, "People keep saying that everything is ok, and I keep telling everyone that I'm fine, but…" I twisted my lips and shook my head, "I don't think I'm fine."

Cade offered me his hand and I took it hesitantly. He pulled me closer into his side and I leaned against his shoulder. He sighed and shook his head, "You don't have to be fine right now. It's ok to not be. You had a goal, something you wanted, and it…didn't happen. You're allowed to be disappointed by that."

"The worst part of it is that I get why Lennox couldn't let me join the squadron. I get it." I swallowed the lump I felt forming in my throat, "My life, the way I used to live, made me into someone. I have habits and a mindset that apparently military grade training can't change."

"What do you mean?"

"Lennox couldn't let me join because I'm not a team player." I lifted my head to look him in the eye, "I know Lennox is in charge, I get that, but there's some—" I wanted to say broken, but resisted, "There's some part of me that can't take orders. I can't trust someone enough to let them lead. I can't…give up my control."

Cade nodded understandingly, "Why do you think that is?"

"The pit." I admitted. "The fighting ring I used to be part of, where I was in debt, I… losing control meant getting hurt or worse, and any control I did have was a treasure because it felt like Boss had his grip over every part of my life." It all just started coming out at that point. I scoffed, "And it's worse now because there are people in my life I love and now losing control of a situation means they could get hurt and that's… the worst thing I could ever imagine."

Cade traced his thumb against the back of my hand, "I'm sorry. There's really not much I can say because words aren't going to fix this, but I want you to know that I think you're one of the strongest people I've ever met and despite how you feel right now…I wouldn't change a damn thing about you."

I smiled at him and tried to focus on the way it felt to have his hand pressed against mine. It acted as my anchor at the moment. Cade was different than the others that I knew and that was because our relationship felt different. He wasn't like one of the Cybertronians that I helped take care of in my world or one of the ones I met here, he wasn't family or family adjacent. Our relationship had been built on something else entirely and it was nice to come to him with stuff like this. I let my eyes trace his face again. Being around him felt nice, he made me feel nice, and I think it was because there could be something here.

The last time I let myself even think in a romantic sense was with Kyle, and that turned into a dumpster fire of a mess. It proved to me that my judgement in this arena of life was stupidly skewed and I couldn't trust myself with that. Besides, there was so much going on that it always felt like I wasn't allowed to carve out any time for something silly like romance. I was too messy to think about involving anyone else into my life. So the fact that I was sitting here now, holding Cade's hand, on our supposed second date spilling my guts to him was quite the shock.

"I think I really like you, Cade." I chuckled.

A slow smile spread across his features, he glanced away briefly before looking back at me, "Damn. That's some high praise from you, Aj." I bumped my shoulder into his and looked away so he couldn't see how hot my face felt. "In case it wasn't crystal clear, I also really like you."

"Good." I nodded once and stood up quickly. Cade sent me a questioning look and I shrugged, "I just think we should head back before UHAC actually does send a group of soldiers after us. "

Cade stood up and pulled out his phone, "Well, we made it to nearly 4."

"I'm proud of us." I said and pulled him along, "You do know that Ratchet is going to murder both of us though."

Cade grimaced, "That sounds about right."

We started back the way we came still in no rush to get back to the reality of the base. As we went down the strip my gaze drifted over the strip, taking it all in again, until they landed on a familiar figure on the bridge ahead of us. I slowly came to a stop and narrowed my eyes. Morgan? The intimidating man was standing at the top of the bridge leaning against the border wearing a black leather jacket. He looked older, more gray strands in his hair and beard, but he still had that arrogant look about him. But that couldn't be him.

He lifted his gloved hand in a slight wave, his lips twisting into a smirk. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to spot another man waving back. He had on a nice suit and sunglasses covering his eyes. A briefcase in his opposite hand. He walked forward passing me and as he passed I looked back up to the bridge only for Morgan to be gone.

"Hey, hey?" My eyes snapped to Cade who looked at me curiously, "Are you ok? You zoned out for a second."

I nodded once, "Yeah. Let's go."

We continued walking and I shook my head and went over my options. I wasn't hallucinating that was for sure, but he definitely couldn't be the Morgan I knew. The guy behind me had spotted him too right? He had waved back and went in his direction. Morgan was from Las Vegas, he did his criminal deeds here so it made perfect sense that this universe had the Reaper in it as well. Plus, the Morgan I saw was older. If my Morgan had gotten pulled with me in time and space, he would've stayed the same age as I last saw him.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, just thought I saw an… old friend."

It, unfortunately, didn't take long for us to get back to the base. How we got away with this little feat, I wasn't sure, but I was thankful that we had. It seemed most people hadn't noticed that we even left. As we walked into the hanger after parking the truck, Prowl gave me a narrowed glare which hinted that he knew we ran off, but the SIC hadn't sent anyone after us so that was cool.

"So, I had a good time today. I promise the next date I take you out on won't involve fast food or getting manhandled by casino security." Cade chuckled at me. The hanger around us wasn't very busy at the moment with only a few stragglers about. I could hear an Autobot entering, but that could've also just been Prowl leaving.

"Those were my favorite parts though." I argued.

Cade shook his head, "Fair enough. I'm sure between the dinner and show we could fit in some criminal activity. I'm always open to new ideas."

He took a step closer to me and my stomach flipped at the motion. Oh. It was that part of the date. There was a nervous lump in my throat, and I wasn't sure where to go from here. I did like him. For the first time in a long time, I had a crush and that was shocking. It only made sense to follow it, right? If this ended like any of those other crushes though I don't think I wanted to even deal with it at all. Wouldn't it be better if I nipped this in the bud now? Cade must have seen my hesitance because he took a step back, still smiling.

Time to decide.


Jazz had sat on his servos all day long. News about Aj running off base had slowly spread about the base. Wheeljack had told Bumblebee who told Bluestreak who told… well, everybody. It had been a mixed reception on how people felt about it all. There were some, like him, who did not want her out in the city alone. With Megatron still out there, even with his supposed peace offering to her, and the drones attacking random cities it was like tempting fate having her out in Las Vegas alone. Others thought she needed the break away from UHAC. Unfortunately, Ratchet had been one of them.

Of all the times for Ratchet to pick the risky decision, it had to be now?

Still he followed orders, stayed put, but as soon as Prowl commed the on base Autobots letting everyone know Aj was back he was racing toward the hanger. Jazz breezed in, looking over the hanger, and spotted Aj standing at the edge of the entrance with Cade of all people. Now that he thought about it he hadn't spotted Cade all day, but he had brushed it off since the human was good at staying out of sight on days where Ratchet and the science 'bots didn't need him.

Jazz took a step forward, but immediately came to a stop when Cade stepped closer to his femme. He tilted his helm in confusion and watched when Aj remained frozen. Slowly, Cade took a step back away from her, but before Jazz could unclench his servos and relax Aj moved. She closed the space and wrapped her servos around Cade's neck pulling him into a kiss.

It felt like someone had stuck a live wire straight into his systems. He couldn't even wrap his processors around what was happening at the moment. Cade wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him and that's when Jazz reacted.

Before he could take a step though a firm hand wrapped around his arm and yanked him back. He was dragged out of the hanger through the side door into the upstairs medbay before he even realized that it was Sideswipe who had grabbed him.

"Fragging let go of me!" Jazz snapped.

"No." Sideswipe said firmly and tightened his grip. Jazz briefly considered wrestling out of the red mech's servo, but he caught sight of the matching yellow mech walking into the room behind him.

This wasn't a fight he'd win. Not in this situation.

"Calm down." Sideswipe snapped again. Jazz twisted out of Sideswipe's grip but stayed put. They all just tensely stood there for a moment before Ratchet poked his head out of the back room. He groaned and Sideswipe turned to greet him, "Hiya, Ratch."

Ratchet stepped out, "What now?"

Sideswipe glanced over Jazz's shoulder and nodded. He turned and marched toward the medic, "Your daughter's back if you wanna go ground her for life."

"That does sound fun." Ratchet mumbled, eyeing Jazz questioningly. Sideswipe and Ratchet left the medbay and it left Sunstreaker and him alone.

Jazz slowly turned around to face the yellow mech who was leaning against the wall calmly. He never would've guessed he'd be in a situation where Sunstreaker was the calm one but here they were. The frontliner nodded once, "You can't fight with her on this."

"You're ok with this?" Jazz asked. Sunstreaker didn't reply and that pissed him off all the more. He knew how the twins felt about her. Jazz had known before they even fully knew he thought. So he knew that this had to be killing them because it was killing him. Were they that blindly confident in themselves that this meant nothing to them? "I am not ok with this."

"Well, you're going to have to get ok with this." Sunstreaker growled.

"She deserves better than him!"

"Someone like you?"

Jazz froze and his servos clenched and unclenched. He shook his head, "Cade isn't good enough for her—"

"Cade is the best for her."

"How can you even say that!?"

"Because I'm not blinded by my feelings!" Sunstreaker snapped at him, pushing off the wall tense. They glared at each other but didn't take it any further. Sunstreaker scoffed, "Jazz, will you just think about it?

Jazz shook his helm, "I am thinking about it. I'm thinking about her—"

"No, you're thinking about you."

"How fragging dare you—"

"Taylor and Smokescreen still sneak around!" Sunstreaker yelled again and Jazz felt his anger simmer slightly. The yellow mech didn't stop, "We love them, and we accept them, but the world wouldn't so they hide their relationship in the dark. They put on a brave face, but it's still hard on both of them. Taylor is so terrified of being rejected for her love for Smokescreen that she can't even admit it to her aunt." Sunstreaker stepped closer. "We forget… We forget because of their signal—they feel Cybertronian, but they aren't. Aj isn'tCybertronian. We can't offer her what a human can… Neither of us, not you, not me and Sides, we can't give her a future. Not the one she deserves."

It was painfully silent in the medbay as Jazz let the ex-gladiator's words wash over him. There was nothing in that statement that he could argue with. Sunstreaker had spoken nothing but facts.

"If Cade has a shot at making her happy, truly happy, then we have to… to care enough about her to step aside." Sunstreaker added softly in Cybertronian.

He was right. The twins were right, and Jazz had to accept that as much as it hurt. Jazz clenched his jaw and turned. Sunstreaker called after him, warning him to stay away from Cade, and Jazz only waved over his shoulder in acknowledgement. He turned the corner so he could take the full-sized elevator down to the Cybertronian level. He couldn't be around anyone right now.

He had something to wrap his processors around.