Thanks to everyone who keeps reviewing and reading this story! Right now I'm going through a rough patch in life and writing is just about the only thing that soothes me and alleviates the depression I'm feeling. Through Clare I can express things that I haven't been feeling myself lately so it's almost theraputic for me. That's probably why I'm putting so much time into it! Anyways thanks for reading! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

A dull throbbing in my head was the first thing that I registered upon coming back to the world of the living from whatever dark place I had been in. The pain wasn't something I was used to so I winced in time with every throb in my head. The pain wasn't horrible or anything it just was.

The next thing that I registered was like a small icon, like one that you would see on the desktop of your computer or something sitting right in the top right corner of my vision. I focused in on it causing the small image to shift and enlarge so that it was taking up almost the entirety of my vision. Various words such as, comm. link, system integrity, fuel levels, primary systems, secondary systems, etc...all flashed across the darkness of my vision staining it a bright mixture of various colors the main being a white base. Everything else seemed to be arranged by color according to how important it was. At least that was my guess.

I laid there for another few moments toying with things not really knowing what I was doing of course, until I decided to try my luck in opening my eyes. They felt heavy like bricks forcing me to have to actually strain myself to open them. And when I managed to I immediately whimpered and snapped them shut after being assaulted by bright light.

"So you're awake." A familiar gruff voice muttered from somewhere close by.

With a pained groan I forced my eyes open and turned in the direction of the voice. "Yes Ratchet...I'm awake, and my head hurts like a motherfucker."

"It will after a processor update femme." He stepped around my berth to check my vitals via the spark monitor. "Well everything is stable. Besides the helm ache do you feel anything else that I should be made aware of? Any disorientation or confusion?"

"No. Just a helm ache as you put it."

"Good. I'll give you a mild sedative for the pain."

I was once again poked with another needle only this one didn't make me pass out or anything like that. It just sent a blissful numbness drifting through my entire body. "What time is it?" I asked.

"It is 09:00 groons." He informed me. "Or nine o'clock in the morning."

"I understand military time Ratchet." With some effort I forced myself to sit up with a noticable shaking in my body. I reached around and felt the back of my head for stitches or something, only I didn't feel any there. "You didn't have to stitch me back up?"

"No your healing nanites healed the small incision in less than a groon." He stomped over to start messing with something on his counter. "Jazz is coming to visit you before he has patrol. I figured that while he is here we could start instructing you on how to use your comm. link system."

"I saw something titled comm. link on my HUD when I woke up. I was messing with it but I didn't actually try it out."

"It isn't that it is hard to use, but it can be confusing at first. Especially the public comm. link channel. Hearing all those voices at once can be overwhelming at first but you will get used to it, and at times it may be the only form of communication you have since bots often turn off their personal comm. link when they do not wish to be bothered. However somebot should be on public comm. at all times so use that if you cannot contact somebot directly."

With a thoughtful humm I tuned him and everything around me out so that I could start playing with this comm. link system, I did notice something titled electromagnetic disruptor as well but I had no idea what that was so I left it alone. Maybe I could ask Ratchet later? But for now I focused on trying to get the comm. link to open. It wasn't like I could physically click on it so it should be as easy as wanting it to open right?

Bam! As soon as I thought about wanting to use it a new tab popped up somewhat like one would on a computer, only it was a small screen sitting in the top right corner of my HUD screen. I could still see my main HUD, energon levels, systems, etc... Names were displayed on my comm. link, Optimus, Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker. All of them were there.

So if it was as easy as wanting something to happen...I'd just focus in on Sideswipe! The comm. link screen shifted to what looked to be almost like a typing screen only there were no words. 'Huh well what the freaking A do I do here?'

As soon as I thought that the words flashed across the screen along with an option to send. I giggled like a maniac and willed the words to disappear! And they actually did! Focusing I thought of an actual message for Sideswipe...

:Hi Sideswipe! I learned how to use the comm. link system! Tell Sunnyshine I said hi!: With a mad cackle I mentally hit the send message option and like a small poof the message I had just written was gone.

In seconds I was receiving one back. It was kind of like a small file you would sometimes get on your computer like a blockup or something! I opened it and was astounded when Sideswipe's actual voice filled my head along with the words!

:I can see that! Good job Clare! Oh and Sunny says not to call him that! I think that he secretly likes it though!:

I gasped and bounced in my spot on the berth like a mad woman. :I HEARD YOUR VOICE! I THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD ONLY BE LIKE TYPING ON A COMPUTER! DID YOU HEAR ME TOO?!:

His laughter came back. :Of course I did! The comm. link utilizes communication with mental voices and words! We can choose to silence our voices in certain cases if we want. All you have to do is utilize the silent function. Try it.:

I pursed my lips and cocked my head in thought. Silent function? Where was that at? There were some small icons near the bottom of the comm. link screen so I focused in on them which enlarged the screen for me, and there in the corner was a small tab labeled silence function. Man was everything so literal with these guys? Why couldn't they give it a cooler name like...007 super agent silent ninja message or something? I mentally clicked it and thought up my message. :Did it work?:

A second later I received a silent response, AKA I had to freaking actually read it. :Yup. See it's easy. I personally like the other way better though.:

:Me too. And are you guys always so literal about everything? Cause I was thinking that calling it the silent function is kinda lame. Why not call it super secret ninja no talky voice function or something?:

When his next message pinged up on my HUD the first thing I heard upon opening it was his laughter. :Because the higher ups are lame as you put it. So when are you going to be able to get out of the med bay? I was thinking that we could prank Ratchet first.:

:Umm I don't know. Right now we're waiting for Jazz to come visit...and help me learn how to use the comm. link system. Not that I need help really. And after that I have no idea.:

:Annoy him with the comm. link system! Show him that you know how to use it!: Sides cackled madly.

:Ok!:

With an evil grin I turned towards Ratchet's exposed back and switched to his comm. frequency. :Oh Ratchet! Look what I figured out how to do!: I sang out causing him to tense and whip around in my direction.

"Oh slag me sideways!" He cursed.

At that moment the doors to the med bay slid open and Jazz walked in looking confused. "Why did ya say dat Ratch?" He hopped up onto my berth and moved me into his lap.

Before Ratchet could answer I turned to Jazz and chirped happily. "Because I was annoying him through the comm. link!"

"Ya figured ou' how ta use it on yo'r own den?"

I switched over to Jazz's frequency and quickly sent him a message. :Yup! I still haven't used the public link though!:

A wide grin spread across his metallic lips. "Dat's mah sparklin'! Yo'r so smart ain'cha?"

"Yup!" He hugged me tightly nuzzling me like he had grown fond of doing. A soft cooing sound built up in my chest causing him to smile and rev his engine at me in a soft purr. The bond we shared was filled with love like nothing I had ever imagined before almost like a physical touch or hug wrapping me in its warmth. How he loved me so much in such a short time was beyond me, like nothing I had ever expected. But even more surprising was how much my own spark felt for him in return in just as short a time. It was like as soon as a bond was formed the affection and adoration was instantaneous.

Being in his arms made me feel safer than anywhere else I had ever been before. I loved it. It made me want to act like a baby just so that he would coddle me. Not that I would actually do that. Nor did I feel like I really had to because it felt like he would coddle me and love on me no matter what I did.

We sat there for roughly five kliks or so just cuddling, feeling no need to use words to convey anything. But eventually my...I didn't know what exactly to call him since I didn't know the Cybertronian term, had to go. He sat me down reluctantly and stood to leave but not before shooting Ratchet a warning look. "Keep mah sparklin' safe while ah'm gone or else ah'll weld ya ta da ceilin."

Ratchet snorted. "Yes of course. Now get to your patrol Jazz, Ironhide is waiting in the main hangar."

With one last lingering look my adoptive father left us to our silence. "Ratchet?"

Ratchet paused in turning to whatever he was working on to give me his attention. "Yes femme?"

"What do you call a father in Cybertronian?"

"Opiluck...and a femme creator, mother, is called a danniluk." He came over and sat down on his stool thingy next to where I was sitting. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

I looked down at my lap. "Do you think Jazz would mind if I called him opiluck?"

"No I do not think so. In fact I think that he would like it very much." He sat there for a moment not saying anything and looking bothered by something. "You said the night that we first met that your creators did not want you did you not? How do you know this?"

Pain lanced through every fiber of my being at the soft and almost hesitant question. Being abandoned was not something that I liked talking about...it wasn't something that I really thought about. Uncle Ron and Aunt Judy never really knew why my actual father...if he was even really my father, abandoned me on their doorstep with a letter saying who left me. They didn't know who my mother was, and when they asked my Uncle Ron's brother AKA my father he just said that he didn't want anything to do with me. After a few months he disappeared completely from their lives without a single trace... Uncle Ron thought that he may have passed during an excursion somewhere since he was an archeologist who traveled all over the world looking for artifacts and oddities. But we never knew for sure.

"My Uncle said that my dad...if he even really is my dad," I sighed painfully and pulled my knees up to my chest like I normally did when I was feeling a negative emotion like pain or fear. "well he left me on their doorstep one night with a letter saying who left me there. When they confronted him about me he just said that he wanted nothing to do with me. They had no idea who my mother was so they ended up keeping me. And the rest is history pretty much."

"I highly doubt that this male was really your creator Clare..." Ratchet told me bluntly. "Your real creators must have abandoned you and this human probably found you somewhere. Cybertronian creators share a strong bond with their sparklings, but there are those that do abandon their young ones. As reprehensible as it is to think about."

I shrugged. How was I supposed to know anything about them? Only a week ago I thought I was a normal human who's parents just hadn't wanted her. Now I knew that I was the complete opposite of a regular human seeing as how I wasn't even a human! Now Ratchet was in a roundabout way telling me that not only had I been abandoned by my human equilvelant to a father, but that I had also been abandoned by my Cybertronian creators... Whoever they were. "I guess I've always been an unwanted child huh?"

Ratchet gave me a sympathetic look. "No I do not think so. Jazz certainly cares for you very much as do your human family members."

That was true... "I know." It was all that I could think to say to him. He was right and I understood what he was saying. The pain did lessen until I was able to completely force it away. I moved to change the subject to a much lighter one. "So when do I get to leave the med bay?"

Ratchet scowled at me. "I do not like that troublesome look on your face femme."

I cocked my head cutely. "What look?"

He opened his mouth to say something only to seemingly think better of it. Shaking his helm he made a shooing motion with his servos. "You can leave now. Just do not come back unless you're injured or dying."

With a delighted squeal I jumped up from the berth and dashed to the end nearest to the door to jump off of it without a moments hesitation. My body was jarred slightly from the force of which I landed but surprisingly there was no pain, without another seconds hesitation I raced out the door to find Sideswipe.

However it was not my intention to run smack into a large leg just outside the door. I let out a soft 'oof' and flailed backwards so hard that I almost did fall. Only a quick servo saved me from meeting the ground.

"Ratchet let you out of the med bay already?" Optimus's deep baritone voice asked warmly.

I looked up at his towering form and grinned widely. "Yup! I was bothering him with the comm. link so he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible!" As soon as I was completely upright Optimus let me go upon seeing that I was no longer in danger of falling.

He chuckled at me. "Already wreaking havoc young one?"

I pointed a finger at him and shook it. "Hey I'll have you know that I am completely innocent of any accusations until proven guilty in a court of law!" We sat in silence following my declaration until I finally lost it and doubled over in laughter at his clueless look. "You should see the look on your face right now!"

He cocked his helm at me, and let me tell you it was adorable coming from a thirty foot plus mech. It only made me laugh harder.

He seemed to think better of making any comment on my behavior. "Behave yourself Clare." He admonished me softly before he stepped around me and entered the med bay.

Pffft yeah right! As soon as he was out of sight I took off running towards the living quarters. :SIDES! I'M OUT OF THE MED BAY! COME FIND ME!:

:Where are you at right now?:

:Going towards the living quarters! Where are you at?: I raced around a corner to a corridor that I hadn't been in yet catching sight of Sides dragging Sunstreaker out of a room near the end of it. "Sides! Hi Sunnyshine!" I called up to them.

"Don't call me that." Sunstreaker growled. Oooh he was in a worse mood than normal!

I cocked my head to the side cutely. "Sunnysideup?" Sides snickered at me and moved to pick me up and place me on his shoulder.

"No." Sunstreaker deadpanned irritably. He turned towards Sides and scowled at him. "Why do I have to be dragged into your stupid pranks when you already have an accomplice?"

"Clare can't help me with everything Sunny! Just stop being such a heap and help us out! You know you want to!" Sides' comment earned him a swift smack to the helm from his brother. He didn't seem like he minded it much or maybe he was just used to it. Probably the latter I guessed from what I had seen so far.

"What are you planning on doing to him anyways?"

I perked head swiveling in Sides' direction for the answer.

"I was thinking about pelting him with paint bombs...in a very masculine shade of neon pink." Sides snickered.

I giggled. "Only pink? What about neon purple? Or green?"

Sides turned to me with a mischievious grin. "First rule of pranking femme: never unleash everything you have all at once. We'll save those other colors for a different day...or maybe for Ironhide when he gets back from patrol."

It still seemed to need something in my mind. "Have you ever made sticky paint?"

His optics flashed in interest. "Sticky paint? If that's what it sounds like it must be good."

I grinned evilly. "Oh it's exactly what it sounds like! One time when I was like eleven I made some purple sticky paint and pelted Sam with it...and I may or may not have wrestled a tutu onto him afterwards and snapped some photos hehe... A bright pink tutu."

Both of them couldn't resist laughing at that well more like a snort/laugh from Sunstreaker. Sides however would have doubled over if I hadn't been on his shoulder I think. "I want to see pictures of that so bad! Next time you come bring some!"

"I will. But for now we should make some sticky paint! And we need to find something to stick all over Ratchet!"

The three of us looked back and forth at each other...and smirked. Watch out Ratchet...here we come!

Several hours later I was armed with neon pink sticky paint, and an armful of some of the soldiers clean boxers. Let me tell you some of these boxers were the most emasculating things I had ever seen in my life! One pair had Betty Boop sticking her ass out printed all over the surface, another had Spongebob. Yes Spongebob, printed all over them. I almost died just finding the pairs I wanted to stick all over Ratchet. The worst part of this was that this adhesive paint was strong as heck thanks to some help from Sideswipe, and it was strong before. Now it was just beast!

Right now the three of us were setting up a spring trap above the door so that I could load the boxers into it so that when Ratchet got pelted with the paint he would trip the spring trap and send the boxers fluttering onto his new paint job! Sides quickly put the last touches on it and lifted me so that I could pile the boxers into it!

With the trap complete we backed off and got ready to pelt Ratchet with paint as soon as he stepped out the door... Which should be any astrosecond now.

A loud swishing sound had me holding my breath as the med bay doors slid open and Ratchet stepped out.

:Now!: Sides shouted over the comm. link.

With a resonating war cry Sides and I started pelting Ratchet with sticky paint bombs eliciting an enraged sounding roar from him! In his rage he lunged forward and triggered the spring trap sending a flurry of boxers to rain down on his sticky pink form. "WHAT THE SLAG?! SIDESWIPE!" He roared angrily smoke billowing from his vents too fast for it to be considered healthy.

Sides and I busted out laughing at the pair of superman boxers sticking to Ratchet's face plates giving each other a quick high five. Then both twins turned and took off running in the opposite direction as fast as they could when Ratchet came sprinting at us. I had to clutch at Sides' audio hard to prevent myself from falling off from how fast he was running.

"Get back here you pit spawns!"

Something went sailing past me hitting the wall with a clang and in the process almost hitting me. I turned to yell at Ratchet. "Hey! That almost hit me you assnugget!" Seriously! He could see me up here so why would he throw a wrench at me?!

"You're as responsible for this as they are!" Ratchet bellowed.

We went sliding around a corner into the main hangar where Optimus was standing talking to Lennox. The Autobot leader only looked up briefly at us before shaking his helm and turning back to what he was doing. Well he had known everyone here with the exceptions of the human soldiers and I for a long time so he was probably used to it.

"I'M GOING TO KEY YOUR ALT MODE SUNSTREAKER!" Ratchet roared.

I don't know what that meant but it made Sunstreaker shudder. So I'm guessing that it was pretty bad whatever it was. Another wrench went sailing past us almost nailing me again. A shrill squeak escaped me. "HEY! STOP TRYING TO KILL ME WITH THOSE THINGS!"

Sides moved me so that he was cradling me against his chassis, thus keeping me from getting nailed by any stray wrenches. That was implying that Ratchet was not meaning to throw them at me...which I was pretty sure that he did mean to.

"I'M GOING TO KEY BOTH OF YOUR ALT MODES INTO THE UGLIEST EARTH VEHICLE I CAN FIND!"

We dashed outside and took off like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction from the base in an attempt to lose Ratchet. It became clear that we had been successful after only a few moments when his enraged yelling disappeared. Sides and Sunstreaker slowed to a stop on a hill overlooking a deserted stretch of beach.

Both plopped down on the soft sand though Sunstreaker looked hesitant to do so, probably worried about his paint. I slid down into Sides' lap and leaned back against his abdomen comfortably. "Well that was fun! Even the parts where I almost got high impact wrenched. That's what I'm going to call it by the way." I chirped brightly.

Sides high fived me again. "It was fun. Ratchet is probably going to reformat us into toasters or something when we get back, but it was fun. Your idea was brilliant Clare."

"Yeah I know I'm awesome." I stated smugly. Something occurred to me then making me gasp. "No! I didn't have a camera to take a picture! Oh...how fucking tragic."

Sides cocked his helm to the side curiously. "Ratchet didn't show you how to take still photos with your optics?"

My eyes grew inhumanly wide. "You can do that?!" I jumped up in his lap and pointed at him accusingly. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT EARLIER?! AAARRRGHHH!" I plopped down with a pout and turned away from him.

"Umm I thought Ratchet showed you how." His response came out as more of a question.

"No. Probably because he figured I'd use the skill for something like this." I grumbled. But then a thought occurred to me...they could take these still photos. As soon as that thought crossed my mind I turned and sprung up to his chassis in one jump. "DID YOU TAKE ANY PICTURES?! PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU DID!"

It was Sunstreaker that answered me with a disgruntled snort. "Of course we did. Do you think that we would ever pass up an opportunity to get slag on Ratchet?"

"IwannaseeIwannaseeIwannaseeIwannasee!" I bounced up and down like a maniac on Sides before leaping onto Sunstreaker's lap without a thought. He gave me a look and muttered something about paint, but otherwise he did not try and remove me much to my surprise.

"You almost remind me of Blurr or Bluestreak right now...and I hate those two idiots." Sunstreaker muttered.

"But you don't hate me so show me the picture!" In a flash I had managed to get right into his face forcing him to move back slightly to try and get some distance between us. I kept inching towards his face everytime he moved back.

"Femme back up." He growled.

"Nope. Not until you show me!"

Poor Sides looked between the two of us completely bemused. "Wow... Normally he would have squished whatever was invading his personal space. And you say that you don't like Clare Sunny! If you didn't she'd be either squished or you'd have smacked her away by now!"

"I do not like her. She's just like a growth of some kind...that won't go away."

"Like mold!" I supplied helpfully. "Now show your growth the picture Sunnyboy!"

Sides laughed at me. "Yeah show her the picture Sunnyboy!"

"DO. NOT. CALL. ME. THAT!" Sunstreaker hissed dangerously.

"Well I could call you streak but well that's what it's called when people strip naked and run around in public. Somehow I don't think you'd like that! So it's either Sunnyboy, Sunnyshine, Sunnysideup, or Sunny because your real name is a mouthful seriously. And we're getting off topic! You still haven't shown me the picture yet."

"Have Sides show you. And don't call me any of those things!"

"Nope! You show me! And I'm going to call you one of those things even if you don't like it! So you better pick the one that you hate the least!" I smiled innocently at him like I had done nothing wrong. He gave me an unimpressed look and raised a servo as if to flick me off of his shoulder or something but let it drop instead.

He gave an irritated huff. "You're as annoying as Side is... So I'll treat you like I treat him when he annoys me." A dangerous smirk spread across his lips.

It was the only warning I had before I was suddenly being toted towards the shoreline by firm servos. "SIDES HELP ME!" I cried once I realized where this was going. But as soon as I cried out Sunstreaker reared back and tossed me like a sack of rocks into the water.

I gasped as I went from being dry to being completely soaked in an astrosecond flailing wildly to try and propel myself to the surface again. I broke through the water with a loud gasp...oohhhh I was pretty sure that I saw a shark or something down there! That thought had me high tailing it back to shore which was a fair distance away from where I had come up. Oh I was so going to get back at Sunstreaker's smugly smiling aft for this!

My clothes were dripping wet along with my hair when I finally made it onto land. I rung them out and pushed my side bangs out of my eyes so that I could glare at Sunstreaker. "You assnugget! You are so going to get it!" With a shrill cry I lunged at him and rubbed my soaking wet body all over his leg.

His smug look instantly fell at the first touch of my soaking wet self. "CLARE! YOU'LL MAKE ME RUST!" He shouted some choice curse words and grabbed at me.

"I COULD'VE BEEN EATEN BY A SHARK!" I yelled back as I quickly scaled his armor like a monkey making sure that I got every inch that I passed wet. "YOU SAW JAWS! YOU KNOW THE DANGERS OF THE OCEAN! WHAT IF JAWS HAD BEEN THERE TO EAT ME?! I'M PRETTY SURE THAT I SAW HIM DOWN THERE!"

"FEMME IF YOU MAKE ME RUST I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR AFT! AND JAWS IS JUST A MOVIE IT'S NOT REAL!"

"OH REALLY?!" I quickly climbed back down and turned my back to him. "Here I'll bend over and make it easier to kick!" With that I bent over and waited for him to kick my aft. Only he didn't kick it. No one did anything and it was strangely quiet.

When I turned back towards them I noticed that their attention was completely trained on my butt. I squeaked in embarrassment and turned back towards them. "You perverts! You were supposed to kick my ass not stare at it!"

They snapped out of their staring looking sheepish, or at least Sides did Sunstreaker looked angry again for some reason. "Why would either of us kick your cute little aft when we can stare at it?"

Oh god he was perving out on me again! Luckily Sunstreaker reached out and smacked him again. "Idiot!"

At the same time that Sunstreaker said that I sputtered dumbly. "MY ASS IS NOT CUTE!" A furious blush broke out across my cheeks as I grabbed my ass as if to protect it from their perverseness. OMG MAYBE I SHOULD COVER MY BOOBS TOO?! As soon as the thought crossed my mind I had one arm wrapped around my chest protectively as well. "You're worse than the boys at school!"

"What do you expect? You're adorable." Sides shrugged.

"I AM NOT ADORABLE! WHAT GIRL EVEN WANTS TO BE CALLED THAT?!" My cheeks were so hot at this point that I could probably fry eggs on them or something! I had never been so freaking embarrassed in my entire life!

"Ok adorable...and pretty. Very pretty. Is that better?"

I gaped at him swiftly turning to Sunstreaker. "Smack him again!" I demanded.

Surprisingly the golden mech reached out and cuffed his brother again for me. "Stop perving out on every femme you come into contact with idiot!"

"Yeah what he said you pervert!"

Sides looked between the two of us with a 'wtf' look on his face. "If I'm perving out on her than you were too! You stared too! And I don't perv out on every femme!" He protested. "Only cute ones!"

I was starting to get light headed! No one worth noting had ever called me cute or pretty and like any other virgin girl who had never had a boyfriend it was making me insanely embarrassed! "So you admit that you were perving out! You pervert!"

"How did this end up with both of you ganging up on me?" Sides held his arms up in a motion of surrender. "All I did was tell the truth! Can't friends compliment each other sometimes?"

"Yeah if it's not perving out on said friend! And I'm soaking wet! Someone take me back so I can shower and change!"

Sides got a glint in his optics as he went to open his mouth to comment only to yelp instead when Sunstreaker smacked him again. "WHAT DID I DO?!" He glared at his twin who was already glaring at him fiercely enough to make most people piss themselves.

"Just be quiet Sides! Didn't you say enough already?"

"I didn't say anything bad!" He protested. "You're the one that threw her into the water!"

"She was annoying me!" Sunstreaker hissed.

My glare swiftly changed targets. "You're still an assnugget for doing that!"

"Yeah Sunny! You're an aftnugget for throwing poor cute little Clare into the water with sharks!" Sides started glaring at him too. He suddenly inched over towards me and huddled down waving me closer. "What's a shark by the way?"

"A giant meat eating fish! I could've become fishy food!" We both swiftly glared at Sunstreaker who glared back at us.

"Screw this!" With an aggravated growl he turned and stomped away from us back in the direction that we had come. Seconds later he disappeared from sight and the loud roar of his engine could be heard suggesting that he had shifted to alt mode and took off.

"Baby."

"What a sparkling."

Sides and I turned towards each other and burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on his face?!" I flopped onto the sand laughing hysterically.

Sides chuckled at me. "I did. He's going to pout about it for at least a day or so." He scooped me up quickly carrying me off of the stretch of beach we were on. "We should get you back before Jazz gets back, I don't think he'd be very happy if he found out about what Sunny did to you."

"No?"

"Nope. He seems like a very protective creator, and I'd rather not see Sunny strung up from something by his peds."

Metal broke apart shifting around until I was seated in the plush interior of Sides' alt mode. I thought about what he said as we drove back to the base in silence. Something told me that he was right about the whole overprotective thing when it came to Jazz. It was kind of weird to think about when apparently every creator I had could have cared less about me. I came to the realization that I liked it, but I would also not make it a point to exaccerbate those tendencies.

Sides drove us back to base quickly not letting me out until we stopped in front of Jazz's room. I slid out stopping in front of the door. "Movie night after I'm done?" My voice came out sounding hopeful.

"We don't have tvs or anything to use yet. Jazz only has those cds because Epps let him borrow them." He sounded disappointed.

I deflated as well. "That sucks. Well what else can we do for fun besides pranking Ironhide when he gets back?"

He shifted to bi pedal mode and followed me as I turned to walk into the room and gather my things for a shower. "Well we could just prank Ironhide." He offered mischieviously.

I shook my head at him grabbing some pajamas and undergarments to wear. "Maybe not tonight. How about tomorrow before I leave? It probably wouldn't do to have two pissed off mechs chasing us around base at the same time would it?" Something occurred to me then and I blurted it out before he had time to answer what I just said. "Speaking of where is Ratchet? We haven't seen him since we got back. I kind of expected him to be laying in wait somewhere for an ambush."

"Me too. But don't jynx it femme, his paybacks are usually very painful."

Well damn. "I kind of expect that from him. Anyways let me shower then we can find something else to do!"

He nodded and picked me up to carry me into the wash racks down the hall. I was not exactly keen on using it since it was not unisex, but it seemed to be all they had on this base right now. So when Sides sat me down in front of the door I hesitantly peeked inside to see if anyone was there. Luckily I saw no one but that didn't mean that I was in the clear yet because someone could always walk in on me.

"Umm Sides...could you umm make sure that no guys come in here while I'm using it?"

"I figured you might ask me that." Sides grinned. "I'll make sure that nobot comes near this door until you come out. Now go on Clare." He gently pushed me inside and shut the door after me.

Looking around wildly as if someone was actually in here I placed my things save for my shampoo on the counter and raced over to the nearest shower head and turned it on to the temperature that I liked. I stepped under it and rinsed the salt water and sand off of myself, before reaching over and squirting shampoo into my hair. The suds ran down over my body coating my hair and skin in a soapy sheen that was quickly washed away by the hot water.

I thought back to everything that had happened today, learning how to use the comm. link, Ratchet questioning me, pranking him, going to the beach with Sides and Sunstreaker... I had a lot of fun, but spending time with them also made me think about what it would be like if I had always been with them. Chances are I wouldn't be confused about my own body and what it could do... I would know all the things that were important instead of being so lost now. Not that I hated my life or regretted being raised the way I had. It was just a strange notion.

The last of the suds slid off of my body and from my hair, so I turned the water off and stepped out of the spray to grab my towel and dry off near the counter. I dried off, threw my hair into a bun to keep it from wetting my clothes, then dressed myself in my green gir boxers and long sleeved black shirt.

Once I was decent I exited the wash racks where Sides was still waiting near the door like a sentry. He really was a sweetheart...er spark. He looked towards me with bright optics as soon as I set foot into the hallway. "That was pretty quick."

"Yeah well I didn't want to make you stay out here all night Sides."

"Such a considerate femme." He cooed mockingly.

I smacked his leg before we started down the hall towards my room. "Say Sides?"

"Hmm?"

"What is an electromagnetic disruptor?" It had just occurred to me that I had yet to ask anyone about that function on my HUD.

His helm snapped down in my direction optics alight with surprise and curiosity. "Well it's a mod that allows bots to turn invisible. Why do you ask?"

I cocked my head to the side as another question popped up on my tongue first. "You wouldn't see something like that on your HUD unless you had it right?"

"Nope. Some bots are sparked with mods like that. Why? Do you have it?" His optics lit up with the look that I noticed meant trouble.

"Well yeah it was there when I was poking around but..."

He stopped short and grinned madly at me. "YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THAT MOD?! SHOW ME!"

I thought about it for a moment but then shrugged.

After a quick search through my HUD I located the function and activated it.

And the next thing I knew my body was completely invisible! Cool! It did occur to me that I probably shouldn't be using mods and things that no one had actually explained to me yet but...

What's the worst that could happen?

R&R! Cliffy! I'm thinking of how I can have some fun with this situation right here lol. Maybe have Clare get stuck somehow, or have her prank someone while using it. Anyways any suggestions would be nice. Check out the poll as well when you get a chance! So far Sunstreaker is winning!