Arianna looked up as Miko and Bulkhead entered the room, the younger girl talking excitedly with her guardian, with the former Wrecker looking a little contemplative. "Hey there, you two," greeted the older girl, "Having trouble with day plans?"

"You could say that," replied Bulkhead.

A sudden beeping from the consul caused them to turn. "Optimus," said Ratchet, who was at the consul, "I'm recieving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system."

As everyone gathered around the consul, Aria asked, "What exactly is it?" She looked up at the terminal.

After a few moments, Ratchet said in shock, "It's an Autobot identification beacon!"

"So," asked Jack, "there are other Autobots out there?"

"The masses scattered to the galaxy when Cybertron finally went dark," explained Arcee. She looked up at the terminal and added, "But Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons."

Optimus looked towards the consul screen. "Unknown vessel," he said as the com channel went on, "This is Autobot Outpost Omega-1. Identify yourself."

After a slight bit of static, a friendly yet gruff voice came on. *I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades.*

"WHEELJACK?" chrorused several voices, one outside of Aria's head, and several dozen inside of it. "Ow!" she yelped, holding her head, "My ears. And my head!"

Bulkhead strode forward, "You old Con crusher!" exclaimed the green Autobot, "What are you doing all the way out here?!"

*Bulkhead?*came the voice, apparently Wheeljack, *That you? What's with all the security?*

"The rock we're on is crawling with Cons," explained Bulkhead, "How soon can you get here and help even the odds?"

*Sometime tomorrow,* came the friendly reply, *If I put metal to the petal!*

"Another 'Bot's coming here!" cheered Miko, "How cool is that!" Bulkhead nodded in agreement.

"Wheeljack," said Optimus, "I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?" he asked Bulkhead.

"He is one-thousand percent the real deal, Optimus!" responded Bulkhead.

Optimus turned to Aria. "According to the others, it's him," she told him.

Optimus turned back to the consul. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack," he said, "Safe journey."

"See you soon, buddy!" said Bulkhead. "I'll make sure you get a proper welcome!"

"So, who's the boyfriend?" asked Arcee when the call ended, joking slightly.

Bulkhead laughed. "Oh, me and Jackie go way back," he explained, "We were part of the same war unit; the Wreckers!" He pounded his fists together as he added, "Which means the Cons are gonna wish that he never found us!"

"Who were the Wreckers?" asked Raf.

"The Wreckers were the heavy-hitters of the Autobots," explained Aria, "They liked to smash and blow up stuff, if I recall correctly."

"Hehe," chuckled Bulkhead, "You could say that. We were the guys that did most of the heavy-lifting. How do you know him?"

"Besides having his name shouted in my head," said Aria, rolling her eyes, "The Old Wreckers told me a bit about him. He's pretty rebellious, isn't he?"

"Eh, you could say that."

"Can't wait to meet him!" said Miko.

"It might have to be a bit later for me," said Aria, "Tomorrow's my training day. Probably won't be back until five."

"Aww," said Miko, "You're gonna miss out on the party."

Aria gave a tiny flinch, then gave a nervous laugh. "I'm... not much of a partier, Miko," said Aria, "Last party I had was in Chicago. Besides, I don't really have much to celebrate."

"Why not?" asked Jack and Arcee.

Aria looked a little downcast as she said, "Probably wouldn't like it if I told you. Consider it my... dark past."

Everyone watched as Aria headed up to the roof, possibly to brood. *What did she mean by that?* asked Bumblebee, looking over at Raf.

The younger boy shrugged. "I don't really know much about her past, either," he told his friend, "All I know that's really dark is that her parents died when she was only three years old."

"That young?" asked Ratchet in shock.

Raf nodded. "But... she's never told me how they died."

()

Aria summoned several massive stony figures in the ground in front of her and lept forward, her gloved hands covered in light. Several of the stony structures came apart at the rapid punches she dealt to them. Some of the others were swiftly defeated by a mixture of a wave of frost and energy, and the last two were knocked apart by two energy-enhanced kicks.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Aria whirled around to see Optimus standing at the edge of the clearing she was using. "Not at all," she replied, "Wheeljack finally got to base?"

"Yes," answered Optimus, coming forward and kneeling beside her, "But I'm not one for parties."

"Just like Ironhide said," chuckled the girl, "According to his words, 'Primes never party.'"

"He said that?" Optimus raised an optic-ridge.

"He and several others. A few of the more senior Primes agreed. Amalgamos completely denied the statement. Considering who he is, I could see why."

The two of them chuckled, knowing the Shifter Prime. "So, what are you doing?" the Prime finally asked.

"Training," she said, "Gotta keep my guard up. But it gets boring just training against these stone dummys." She kicked at one of them boredly.

Optimus looked contemplative as he looked around at the stones that littered the ground around them. He looked upwards for a few seconds, then asked, "Would you like to spar against me?"

Aria looked up in shock as several voices in the girl's head went, "Ooooooooooooooooh!"

"Bet he'll take her down in round 1," said Liege Maximo.

"Oh yeah?" said Amalgamos, "I be you two cubes that she'll be able to take him down in the first round!"

"Bets are on!" cheered the Terror Twins.

"Alright," said Aria, grinning nervously.

Optimus stood and moved to one side of the clearing, taking up a ready stance. Aria moved over to the other side and levitated a couple of feet in the air until she was level with Optimus's waist. "I'll say this now," she told him, raising her fists, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"Pre-apology accepted," he told her, "And I am also sorry if I hurt you as well."

"Your pre-apology is also accepted," she replied. Then she darted forward, her fists covered in light.

Surprisingly, Optimus sidestepped out of her way, then his sevo darted forward, attempting to catch her. She spiraled upwards, the blasted a few beams of light in his face, which made him step back. She rushed for his chest, but was forced to fall back as his servo's made for her. She backflipped, skidding a little bit as she landed on the ground.

"Having fun?" he asked her.

"Yup!" she said. She eyed at his legs and arms, then nodded. She rushed forward, but before Optimus could catch her, she darted behind him, kicking a light covered leg straight behind his knee. Optimus gave a startled exclamation, starting to fall, which was very apparent as Aria darted above him and slammed into his chest, causing him to fall to the ground.

Optimus gave a small groan and looked at Aria as she landed on top of him. "Liege," she said, "I believe you owe Amalgamos two cubes of energon."

"They made a bet?" he asked.

"Yup. Want to go again?"

Optimus nodded and Aria allowed him to stand, then they resumed. Aria managed to knock Optimus down twice more. When they had sparred a fourth time, however, Optimus finally caught her. Aria had tried darting around him again, but his servo's came down, and she suddenly found herself trapped in his servos.

"Alright! I give!" she told him. Optimus chuckled and lifted her up, setting her on his shoulder.

"I'll admit," he said as she made herself comfortable, "That was more challenging than I thought it would be."

"Same here," said Aria, her legs dangling off of Optimus's shoulder, "Size doesn't mean everything in the human world."

"It is the same for Cybertronians," said Optimus, "There was a saying that 'The bigger they are-'"

"-the harder they fall?'" finished Aria. At his curious glance, she said, "Similar saying on earth. And it's very true."

Optimus nodded, and the two of them lapsed into a companiable silence. Optimus finally asked, "I was quite surprised that you didn't take of a cybertronian form to spar."

"The Primes say that I shouldn't try that, at least not until I'm strong enough," she told him, "They say I could probably die if I'm not ready. Personally, I have to agree. I don't think I'm quite ready for something like that yet."

"Oh," Optmus looked down for a few seconds, then looked up as Aria said, "Besides, there are a lot of other things that I can turn into. Check this out!" She stood up on his shoulder and jumped off. Before he could give a startled shout, she had transformed into a black, cat-like lizard that landed in front of him. He surprisingly recognised it. "A Nightfury?" he asked in amusement.

"Hey, It's pretty fun," Aria told him telepathically, flapping her wings. "Might not be much for cover and I'll probably end up on some conspiracy websites if it's not during the night time, but it does pack a punch. And there's a lot more that I can do besides that." When she said that, she transformed into a falcon.

"That's a little more like it," approved Optimus, nodding.

"I might just need to watch where I'm transforming," she said to him, "I don't think peregrine falcons are native in Jasper, Nevada."

"What about for land?"

She turned back into her human form. "Besides being human? Just about everything. But I really prefer to fly. It's more fun."

"And more mobile," said Optimus.

"That too." She flew back up to his shoulder and settled down. They stayed like that for a while before Optimus stood. "I believe we had better be getting back," he told her.

"And hope that the base is still standing with two Wreckers and Miko inside of it," added Aria.

That made Optimus chuckle quietly, with Aria joining him.

After a while, Aria said, "You know, I'm kinda surprised you didn't ask me about my parents. Expecially after what I said yesterday."

Optimus turned his helm slightly to look at her. "I know that you do not wish to talk about it," he said, "And so, I will not press you about it. I will say that you can talk about it when you feel that you are ready."

Aria looked shocked for a few seconds, then gave a small, pain-filled smile. "Thank you," she said, leaning against Optimus's helm.

She didn't see the gentle smile that he wore as well.

()

"I'm not sure whether I'm glad that I didn't stay," said Aria in shock after listening to the story, "Or that I should've stayed."

When Aria and Optimus had gotten back, the others had filled in on what had happened. Aparrently the Wheeljack that they had welcomed into their base was actually a shifter named Makeshift. They had captured the real Wheeljack and Makeshift had tried using Miko as leverage to unveil the base to Starscream. Thankfully, the real Wheeljack had shown up and defeated Makeshift, allowing Bulkhead to throw the shifter back on the Nemesis.

"Probably a good thing that you left," said Bulkhead, "No telling what Makeshift would've done with you."

Aria thought for a few moments, then shrugged and said, "Fair enough."

At Wheeljack's confused look, Bulkhead said, "I'll probably tell you later, Jackie."

The team was finally celebrating Wheeljack's safe return. Well, mostly celebrating. Jack, Raf and Bumblebee were dancing to Miko's guitar playing while a bemused Arcee watched from the sidelines. Ratchet was working on fixing Wheeljack's ship, which had been damaged during the attempt to capture Wheeljack. The old medic sighed and said, "It's like a recurring nightmare."

Bukhead turned to Wheeljack, who was standing next to him and Optimus, who had Aria on his shoulder. "Now that you're a part of Team Prime," said Bulkhead, "we need to pick out a vehicle mode for you! I have some ideas." He nudged his friend in the shoulder with his elbow.

"Uh, about that, Bulk'," said Wheeljack, looking slightly nervous. "Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there."

"Wait! You're leaving?" asked Miko as the rest of the group heard him and joined them, "Why?"

Wheeljack looked slightly nervous at answering that, so Bulkhead answered for him. "Because some 'bots never change." He laughed as Wheeljack grinned nervously.

"Wheeljack," said Optimus, "know that you always have a haven here."

"And a lot of friends waiting for you," added Aria.

Bulkhead grabbed his friend in a side-hug and patted his chest. "Jackie never stays," said the green Wrecker, "but he always comes back." Wheeljack grinned and held up his fist, and the two of them shared a fist-bump.

()

The next morning, everyone came out to say goodbye to Wheeljack. As Bulkhead watched the Groundbridge that brought them there disappate, Wheeljack said, "You know, there's room for two, Bulk'. Even with a backside like yours. Who knows what we might find out there! Some of the old crew?"

Bulkhead looked at his friend, then looked back at Miko, the girl looking up at him with worry in her eyes.

Bulkhead finally chuckled and said, "Sounds like fun, Jackie. But my ties are here now." He looked back at Miko and added, "With them. With her." Miko looked up at his last statement, grinning.

Wheeljack nodded and turned to her. "If anything happens to my favorite Wrecker," he warned her playfully, "I'm coming after you."

"And if you do come back," said Aria, "Maybe I can introduce you to a few people."

"And don't worry, Jackie," said Miko, "I'll take good care of him." She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Now say cheese!"