"What are you gonna be this year, Kade?" Dani looked up from her pumpkin to where her oldest brother was sitting.

It was around 5 in the afternoon and the Burns siblings were busy decorating the firehouse for Earliween. Kade, Graham, and Dani had the day off to enjoy the festivities with Chief and Cody.

"Hayley wants us to wear matching couple costumes. She said she'd bring them over later today." The redhead replied with a shrug.

"Aww!" Dani smiled. "What about you Graham?"

"I'm not sure. Amy said she'd choose my costume." He and Amy had been officially dating for a little more than 7 months now.

"She'll probably make you wear matching costumes too." Kade guessed.

"Probably." Graham shrugged. "I wonder what she'll dress Tesla as."

"Tesla?" Kade furrowed his brows only to lift them in realization seconds later. "Oh right, her monkey."

"Mhm." Came Graham's reply.

"What about you, Dani? Forcing Taylor into matching costumes too?" Kade amusedly inquired.

"No, he's out of town for the weekend. But I am gonna match costumes with Blades." She grinned, etching the last few details into her pumpkin.

There was a squeak from the fire pole followed by a small thump. "Hey, guys!" Cody greeted and joined his siblings at the table. Servo, who had been peacefully recharging in the corner of the room, barked and walked over to greet Cody.

"Hey, Servo!" The blonde gave the helper bot a few pats on the helm and watched his siblings carve different designs onto their jack-o'-lanterns. "Nice pumpkins." He set his duffle bag and hoverboard on the floor next to Servo.

"Thanks, Cody. Where are you off to?" Graham asked, eyeing the boy's duffel bag.

"To Frankie's to finish our costumes." He pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Matching costumes too huh?" Kade smirked at his youngest brother and teasingly wiggled his eyebrows.

"Something like that. You'll see tonight." Cody grabbed a plain pumpkin and began sketching out a design on it, oblivious to what his brother was implying. He looked around at the empty room. Empty and silent. Even though Chase was its only permanent resident, the bunker was quiet which begged the question: "Where are the bots?"

"Blades, Quickshadow, and HighTide went out on patrol before I got here. They should be here soon." Dani replied, wiping a few pumpkin seeds from her sleeve. Not a minute later, an army of loud pedsteps appeared from the room where the ground bridge was stationed in.

"..And you get to dress up as anything you want!" Blades walked in with Quickshadow and HighTide on either side of him.

"To do what exactly?" Quickshadow raised an optic ridge at the absurd statement the rotary was going on about.

"Look ridiculous, scare people and ask for sticky sweets." a bored voice came from behind them and they turned to see Heatwave. The unamusement on his face matched his voice perfectly but he managed a tiny smile when he saw Quickshadow.

"They are not ridiculous" Blades scoffed at Heatwave's accusation.

"Are too. Kade's clown costume is all the proof I need." Heatwave argued back, dermas falling into a frown once again.

"Hey! It was a good costume. I scared a ton of kids last year." Kade defended.

"Yeah, after you took off the face paint." the firebot muttered, just loud enough for his partner to hear.

"Pfft!" Graham and Cody bit back their laughter while Dani laughed 'till her stomach hurt. Kade shut his mouth and went back to carving his pumpkin. Blades would've laughed too but his argument still stood. "Kade is a whole other story. Notallcostumes are ridiculous."

This time Cody and Graham didn't bother holding in their laughter and Dani was clutching her stomach and desperately gasping for air. Kade glared at her as a warning to keep her partner in check. It took a few minutes, but she finally managed to control her fits of laughter. "I think Kade's ego has been bruised enough, Blades. Why don't we go pick out a few horror movies to watch later?" she suggested and ignored Kade's growls.

"Fine." Blades huffed and followed Dani to the other side of the bunker.

"Well...that was entertaining." another familiar voice came from the far end of the bunker and Heatwave had to stop himself from groaning. No matter how much Blurr matured, he always retained a fragment of recklessness and it annoyed the red mech to no end.

"Blurr, Salvage." Heatwave nonchalantly greeted.

"Hey, Cap'n."

"Hey everyone!" Salvage said with a hearty smile.

"Where's Boulder?" Graham furrowed his brows at his partner's absence.

"Right here!" the mech in question walked in, carrying a cardboard box.

"Hey, Boulder! What's in the box?" Cody curiously asked.

"Some decorations Professor Baranova sent over." he set the large box on the floor for Graham, Cody, and Kade to reach.

"These will go great on the walls." Graham pulled out a bunch of cut-out bats. "I'll go ask Dani for her tape."

While Blurr and Salvage joined the humans' hunt for decorations, Heatwave noticed Quickshadow was standing in the corner, distracted by the small screen on her forearm. He was going to accompany her but a thick accent stopped him in his tracks. "Did'ya finally tell her, Red?" Heatwave almost flinched and turned to see HighTide looking down at him.

"I..uh.." He and Quickshadow hadn't discussed when they would tell the rest of the team and he struggled to come up with a direct answer.

"We're not watching this!" Blades suddenly barged in looking distressed. His dramatic entrance turned all eyes and optics towards him.

"Come on Blades. Where's your Earliween spirit?" Dani was hot on his heels.

Blades unintentionally interrupted Heatwave and HighTide's conversation and Heatwave honestly was grateful for the diversion.

"What's wrong?" The firebot asked in a bored tone.

"Dani wants us to watch The Conjuring 2!" The rotary held up the film to them. "I watched the first one and had nightmares for a month." He shivered.

"Ha! Nightmares?" Blurr smugly walked over to look at the movie cover. "..This doesn't even look scary. It's just a little girl." He shrugged.

"Loosen up 'skeeter. It's only a measly film" HighTide crossed his arms over his chassis. "Don't tell me you're scared." He teased.

"I'm not scared, just..traumatized." He crossed his arms over his chassis and looked away.

"You're being dramatic." Dani chastised. "It'll be fun."

Blades sighed and finally gave in. "..Okay, fine." he handed the DVD over to Dani. "But if I get nightmares, you're staying up with me." he negotiated.

"Deal." She nodded and placed the film next to her pumpkin.

"Anyways..you guys should join in on the festivities." Blades trailed off again. "We'll dress up, trick or treat..and watchthatmovie." He frowned at the film but quickly covered his disdain with a smile. "Are you guys in?"

"Sure." Blurr shrugged. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"Sounds fun." Salvage smiled excitedly. Graham had explained the basic concept of Earliween back at Professor Baranova's lab and he was looking forward to experiencing it.

Boulder didn't say anything. His smile and nod were sufficient. He had stayed up all night finishing his costume.

Blades turned to HighTide expectantly but the sea bot merely pursed his dermas. The whole idea seemed strange. Dressing up to go to random houses and ask for sweets? He found it weird.

"I'm sure everyone would love to hear some of your stories." Blades gave him the most persuasive smile he could muster.

"..Suppose I could spare a few tales." The sea bot finally gave in. He couldn't turn down an opportunity to share a good story.

Blades smiled and turned to Heatwave who looked relatively uninterested.

"Heatwave?" He knew the only way to convince the mech was to keep asking until he had no choice but to agree. "Please?" Blades gave him puppy eyes, just like Dani had taught him.

Heatwave groaned. Puppy eyes didn't faze him but he knew Blades would keep asking until he gave in. "Fine." he sighed in defeat.

"Great! What about you, Quickshadow?" Blades looked to the corner she kept to.

"I don't know..last time I was the victim of grand theft auto" she closed her built-in monitor and crossed her arms over her chassis.

"Don't worry, I bet Heatwave won't mind keeping an optic on you." Blades nudged Heatwave with his elbow and a teasing smirk stretched on his dermas.

Heatwave tried to glare at the rotary but he was too busy trying to suppress the energon that was threatening to stain his cheek plates.

Normally, Quickshadow would've objected to such a statement but she found it amusing to see Heatwave fighting to keep his composure before the entire team. So, by means of adding wood to the fire, she played along.

"..In that case, I suppose I could go." Her optics flicked to Heatwave, who upon hearing her response, completely failed to keep his energon from tinting his faceplates. He glared at her but Quickshadow remained unfazed and met his flustered face with one of her signature smirks.

Surprisingly, their teasing was only noticed by Cody and Kade, and the latter was utterly dumbfounded and he decided he'd interrogate his partner later on.

Blades beamed and shot Heatwave a knowing look before walking off to help Dani hang up the rest of the decorations.

Cody set his pumpkins to the side and checked the time. "I should get going, I'll see you guys later!" He grabbed his hoverboard and made his way toward the red elevator.

"Bye Cody."

"Have fun!"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Graham and Dani gave Kade weird glances. Completely clueless to what Kade meant, Cody hesitantly accepted his advice. "..okay?"

Dani watched the confused boy board the elevator and waited for the doors to close before elbowing Kade.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He hissed and held his side.

"For teasing Cody like that." She glared at him before going back to taping bats onto the walls.

"Jeez, I was only messing with him." He sat on the couch to ease the pain.

The bots watched everything unfold and looked at one another in amusement.

"We should get going too, the candy handout will start soon," Graham suggested.

"Aww, but that won't give us enough time to go trick or treating!" Blades frowned.

"Don't worry Blades, I'm sure we'll have time after," Dani reassured him. "Let's go get our costumes."

"I have to get my costume too." Boulder walked off.

A high-pitched squeaking sound came from the garage and soon the red elevator moved down to the bunker.

"Sorry, I'm late. Tesla kept taking off his costume." Amy stepped off the elevator and watched her pet monkey run around.

Tesla had on a small suit and tie to match the tiny top had on his head.

"A ringmaster? Nice." Graham grinned and Tesla didn't hesitate to climb onto his shoulders. He wrapped his furry arms on Graham's neck in a sort of hug. "I missed you too buddy." He chuckled and ruffled the monkey's furry head.

"I brought our costumes, wanna go try them on?" Amy asked.

"Sure." He nodded and turned back to the team. "We'll meet you guys there."

"Let's not keep Dad and Chase waiting," Kade suggested. "I'll call Hayley to let her know we'll pick her up on the way there." He walked away with his phone to his ear.

Heatwave tried to walk over to Quickshadow again but he saw her randomly perk up and quickly press a digit to her com.

"It was Cody." She revealed after ending the call a few seconds later.

"Is he okay?" He lifted a brow with slight concern for the small human. Quickshadow eased his worry with a nod. "He and Frankie need a ride. I'll meet you there." She stepped onto the elevating platform and allowed it to take her up to the garage.

The 4 remaining bots waited for Kade to finish his call so they could get to the town square.


"We look great!" Frankie smiled at the mirror in front of her.

"Yeah. All that's missing is my Repulsor Badge and your Faze Bit." Cody joked as he put his red gloves on.

"Speaking of which—" Frankie walked over to her dresser and pulled out a briefcase containing the items Cody had mentioned.

"..Where did you find those?" Cody inquired, shocked at what he was looking at.

"My Dad agreed to let us use them for tonight, so long as we don't overload them." She arched a brow at him.

Cody rolled his eyes. "I was 9, give me a break!" He chuckled. Frankie joined in with a few giggles of her own and handed him his old repulsor badge. Just looking at it brought back a few memories of his time asRescue Boy.

"I remember patrolling the town with the badge was pretty fun." He began trying to put the badge on.

"I remember testing it was pretty fun too." Frankie grinned.

"You threw tomatoes at me and dropped a crate on my head." He lifted a brow.

"It was part of the test." She insisted. "It's not like you got hurt or anything."

"Yeah, yeah." Cody waved her off but couldn't help but smile.

Frankie strapped her Faze Bit to her torso and looked over to see Cody struggling with his badge. "I can't believe I used to fit into this." He laughed sheepishly.

"Here, let me help." Frankie took the straps and adjusted them to fit him. "There."

"Thanks." He finished adjusting the badge. "We should get going, Chase and my Dad are already at City Hall."

"Er..one problem." Frankie scratched at the back of her neck. "My bike's in the garage. My Dad hasn't been able to work on it yet." She frowned.

"Don't worry, I can ask Quickshadow for a ride." Cody pressed a finger to his comlink and waited for the femme bot to answer.

Frankie nodded and tugged on her purple gloves while Cody talked to Quickshadow.

"She'll be here soon." He smiled before putting on his helmet and analyzing his reflection in the mirror.

"These upgrades are pretty noble." The mask hid his face, but he was smiling at his reflection.

"Pretty Noble?" Frankie scoffed. "Try totally epic!" She donned her own helmet and moved to stand beside him.

"We spentweekson these suits." She rested a hand on her hip. "Give yourself some credit."

Cody glanced back at their reflections. Both wore identical black jumpsuits, helmets, and black combat boots with the only differences being Cody's suit had red accents and a Repulsor Badge while Frankie's had purple accents and a Faze Bit.

Their suits were upgraded to be heat resistant and the visors on their helmets had computerized displays that would allow them to communicate with video feed. The last few weeks hadn't been easy but the amount of work that went into the suits was well worth it in the end.

"She's here." Cody pointed to a monitor that showed the camera feed of the front of the Lab.

The two teens made their way outside with little use of their gadgets.

"Hey, Quickshadow!" Frankie waved at the awaiting Ausley Benton.

"Hey Frankie, Cody." She greeted back.

Before Quickshadow could open her doors to let them in, Frankie grabbed Cody by the shoulder and activated her Faze Bit. Quickshadow's optics widened at the way they seemingly 'melted' through her closed door but she immediately understood when she got a better look at their costumes.

"..The return of Rescue Boy and Rescue Girl ey?" The special ops femme amusedly inquired after getting over the slight shock.

Cody and Frankie glanced at each other then back at her.

"Yep."


"So..what's going on between you and Quickshadow?"

The firebot's engine suddenly sputtered and he almost drove off the road. He slammed the breaks before turning his attention to his partner.

"..What?" Heatwave cocked an optic ridge at the redhead in his driver seat.

"Don't try to deny it Heat. I saw the way you two were looking at each other." Kade smirked and Heatwave looked away to hide the blush that was spreading on his faceplates. His engine started up again and he continued driving towards the town square.

In all the years he's known him, Kade had never seen Heatwave shy away like that. He had seen his cheeks turn blue a few times before and only when Quickshadow was involved. He was slow but he wasn't blind.

"Looks like someone has a crush." He nudged Hayley, who was sitting next to him.

"Aww. When are you gonna tell her?" The blonde excitedly asked.

"We're here." Heatwave slowed to a stop in the middle of the town square and opened his doors, completely avoiding the question.

Kade raised a brow at his partner's behavior and turned to his girlfriend. "You go ahead, I'll catch up." He leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek. Heatwave averted his optics as per usual.

Hayley smiled and nodded. She grabbed her tote bag and climbed out of the passenger seat.

Heatwave looked to Kade with evident annoyance and waited for him to begin the upcoming interrogation.

"Do you like her?" The redhead asked.

Heatwave didn't know what shocked him more, the fact that Kade caught on this fast or the fact that he was genuinely asking about his feelings.

"If you like her, you should tell her." The redhead continued. "There's no point in hiding your feelings. That only makes them grow."

Heatwave tried to keep from looking surprised. Kade was thelastperson he would've gone to for advice and yet his words made logical sense.

"And don't automatically think you have one-sided feelings. She might feel the same."

Heatwave was utterly baffled. "Who are you and what have you done to Kade?"

Slightly offended, the redhead crossed his arms over his chest. "Can I not help you without raising suspicion?" he scoffed.

"Nope."

Kade rolled his eyes and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"..Thanks." The firebot let a small smile betray his dermas.

"Anytime partner," Kade smirked and opened the door to jump out.

Heatwave transformed into bot mode and waited for Kade to leave.

"Go get her, Romeo." Kade grinned up at the mech before walking off to find Hayley.

Heatwave began looking for the others and wandered past various game booths and food stands but he found no sign of the other bots.

HighTide, Blurr, and Salvage had gone ahead because he and Kade had to pick up Hayley.

He lifted his digit to press his comlink but a soft cry made him halt and he looked around for any threats.

He saw a little girl dressed as a cat, standing alone, clutching a bag of candy to her chest. Heatwave easily read her frightened features and assumed she had been separated from her parents.

He slowly approached her and crouched down to her level. "Hey." The small girl looked up with watery eyes and gave a quiet "Hi."

The firebot wasn't one to comfort, but he did his best and sat down next to where she was standing and invited her to sit next to him. She hesitated at first but obliged and soon, she was talking animatedly about how much she loved her costume and how her mom spent hours making it.

Heatwave was surprised by how talkative she was and only nodded every few seconds to show he was still listening.

Unbeknownst to him, Quickshadow was silently watching him help the small girl. She had dropped off Cody and Frankie a few minutes ago and began wandering the grounds in search of the firebot. When she found him, she saw he wasn't alone and smiled at his efforts to comfort the child.

The girl's mother appeared a few minutes later and a wave of relief washed over her worried face at the sight of her daughter giggling next to the red firebot.

The child's eyes gleamed with joy when she caught sight of her mother approaching them. "Mommy!" she leaped into her arms.

"Oh my gosh, I was looking everywhere for you!" The woman embraced her daughter as if she'd disappear again. "Don't you ever run off like that again." she scolded.

"Sorry Mommy." the young girl pouted. Her mother sighed but pressed a kiss to her forehead to assure the girl she wasn't mad.

She turned to face Heatwave and thanked him before leaving. "Thank you so, so much!" she lifted the girl off the ground and walked off with her daughter in her arms.

Heatwave couldn't help but smile when the little girl waved her 'paw' at him before disappearing into the crowd. He hadn't even heard the pedsteps that approached him from behind and almost jumped when he saw Quickshadow looking down at him with a wide smile.

"Who would've thought you had a soft spot for children?" She raised an optic ridge at him. Heatwave scoffed. "What was I supposed to do? Leave her crying on the side of the road?"

Quickshadow's soft laughter filled his audials and she extended her servo towards him to help him get up. "The others have already begun the candy handout." He took her servo and let her pull him up. She led him towards the long lines of humans that had formed in front of city hall.

"Where have you two been?" Blurr was the first to notice them and immediately became suspicious.

"Helping a lost girl." Heatwave answered simply. As per usual, he was in no mood to deal with Blurr and was relieved when Chase and Chief walked over.

"Glad you two could join us." The old police officer smiled at the pair.

Chase handed each a large bag of candy before assigning them their rows. "Heatwave, you take K - M and Quickshadow, you take N - P."

Heatwave raised a ridge at the police bot. "..They're in alphabetical order?"

"Yep." HighTide chimed in from a few rows away.

"Is this really necessary?" Salvage motioned to the seemingly endless lines.

"Order isverynecessary." Chase insisted, eliciting an annoyed groan from Blurr.

"Won't kids get separated from their families?" Quickshadow inquired.

"...I..didn't think of that," Chase admitted.

"That's probably how that girl got lost." Heatwave thought aloud.

"Chase, your PA system," Chief ordered. The police bot obliged and handed him the 'mic'.

"It was a good idea partner, just not properly executed." Chief patted his ped before speaking into the 'mic'. "Alright, listen up everyone! Parents, find your kids. I need you to merge into a single file line."

As Chief directed the town's folk, the rest of the team began to arrive.

"We're here!" Dani announced from inside Blades' cabin. She and Blades wore matching long red and black capes and fake vampire fangs. Dani had Doc maximize a cape and a pair of fangs to fit Blades' dermas a few days ago.

Amy was still helping Graham adjust his pointy hat because Tesla kept knocking it off. She was dressed in a long black dress and wore a hat similar to Graham's but hers was slightly crooked. Her free handheld her broomstick while the other tugged on Graham's Purple robe to fix the wrinkles. She was a witch and Graham was a wizard. Tesla was still in his ringmaster costume and was clinging onto Graham's purple garment.

Boulder walked over with some vines tied around his frame and a few leaves on his arms and helm. He was supposed to look like his pet plant but he ended up looking more like a bush instead.

"Still think costumes are ridiculous?" Blades challenged Heatwave.

"Stop being stubborn, Kade!" A familiar voice interrupted Heatwave from responding to the rotary.

The firebot looked down to see Hayley dragging a red mass behind her. She was wearing a silvery-white dress, white-feathered wings, and a shiny halo while the red mass behind her turned out to be Kade in a devil costume.

Half the team erupted with fits of laughter at Kade's expense.

"Yep." Heatwave replied to Blades' question.

"I told you, Kade doesn't count!" Blades groaned.

Kade glared up at the firebot and rotary with profound annoyance but Heatwave couldn't take him seriously because of his attire.

"Are you gonna trick or treat with us, Chase?" Blades asked, diverting his attention from Kade's death glare.

"I have no desire to trespass someone's property and demand sugary confections and neither should you." Chase chastised, directing a disappointed frown at the overly-excited rotary.

"Lighten up partner." Chief chuckled. "It's not trespassing if the homeowners allow it."

Chase's faceplates were painted with confusion. "I shall never understand humans." He sighed in frustration.

"I think Chase and I can handle the candy handout. The rest of you can go and enjoy the festivities." Chief offered.

Blades didn't waste a second and eagerly made his way towards the nearest neighborhood with Dani.


While the rest of the team engaged in the various activities set up in the town square, Heatwave and Quickshadow managed to slip away unnoticed and were currently wandering in the woods.

It was early October and the days were beginning to grow shorter and shorter. The sun had already retired for the night and it was around 8:30 p.m.

The only source of light was the full moon high in the sky but its glow was diminished by the tree canopy above, making it difficult to see. The two Cybertronians had to recalibrate their optics to activate their night vision. They walked in comfortable silence, the only sounds came from the sticks they occasionally stepped on as they wandered deeper into the thicket.

It's been about a week since they had last talked and a small hike seemed like a good way to catch up. Heatwave was stuck at the Training Center finishing his reports to Optimus about his progress with the Academy's preparations and was unable to visit her at the firehouse. Meanwhile, Quickshadow's shoulder and torso hadfinallyfinished healing. After a few scans of her injuries, Blades removed her wretched cast from her shoulder pad. Soon after that, she returned to Faxian and resumed her normal routines.

In that week, they had hardly talked to each other, much less met up in person.

Neither was really interested in the Earliween festivities Blades kept blabbering about but they tagged along solely for the chance to see each other.

Soon, they came across a large clearing where the trees seemingly formed a circle around them. Without any leaves to filter its glow, the moonlight gleamed off their frames and provided ample lighting. They turned off their night vision and lowered their frames onto the soft grass below. Silence still lingered as they took in the beauty of their surroundings.

"..We never talked about when we would tell the team." Heatwave broke the peaceful silence.

Quickshadow rolled over to her side to face him properly. "..Did you want to tell them?"

"I'm not sure." He said truthfully. "What do you think we should do?."

"..Chase knows and I'm sure a few others will begin to suspect something is going on between us—" she thought aloud. "..but I think we should wait a couple of months before we tell them." She shifted her gaze towards Heatwave to gauge his response.

"Agreed. I'll never hear the end of it when Blades and Blurr find out." He rolled his optics.

Quickshadow looked at him with amusement. "And Kade?" She lifted an optic ridge.

"He sorta figured it out." Heatwave chuckled.

The agent's optics slightly widened. She hadn't expected Kade, of all people, to find out so fast. "That's certainly unexpected."

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Heatwave grinned. "And I can't believe I'm saying this but..I think I should've gone to him for advice from the beginning."

Quickshadow lightly laughed before returning to the original topic. "So, what do you propose we do?"

He furrowed his optic ridges in thought for a brief moment before answering her. "Y'know, we could just let them figure it out for themselves."

"Mm..suppose we could." Her helm dipped in a nod and turned her helm to look at the stars.

It was easier to see them from the forest than from the town. The various lights from the buildings and homes made it rather difficult to make out the tiny specs of light scattered in the sky.

Heatwave had seen the stars many times before but there was something about the femme's company that made it that much more enjoyable.

He felt her servo intertwine with his and turned to see her analyzing his reaction as if making sure he was okay with this type of physical contact. He eased her nerves with a smile and pulled her servo up to press a kiss to her knuckles.

He was acting out of character but lately, he noticed he was doing that a lot.

His spark thumped at the light blush that crept on her face and he absentmindedly brought his servo up to caress her blue cheeks. "You have pretty optics." He spoke tenderly.

"Now where have I heard that before?" A teasing smirk pulled at her dermas, provoking the mech to blush.

Apparently, he had said the same thing when he had been turned into a youngling.

"Thank you. Yours are quite nice as well." She dialed her smirk down to a smile.

Heatwave returned the smile and slowly leaned over till their dermas met. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a loud voice in their coms.

"Heatwave, where are you? A few jack-o'-lanterns were knocked over and ignited a few haystacks!" Boulder's worried voice came over the intercoms, startling the two bots.

"On my way." He quickly replied. Quickshadow was already on her peds and helped him up. They both transformed and drove back to town.

The other bots were keeping citizens away from the fire and putting out any small fires around the bigger one.

"Hurry! It's starting to spread!" Boulder urged. Heatwave aimed his water cannons at the flames and sprayed them down. His water reserves were pretty low, but it was just enough to put out the fire.

The townsfolk cheered, happy that the hazard had been taken care of, and soon resumed whatever they were doing before the fire.

Heatwave looked around for Quickshadow and spotted her walking towards them.

"Where were you, Quickshadow?" Blades asked the femme bot when she arrived.

"At the beach. I went for a quiet walk along the shoreline." She lied, but her expression and posture sold the excuse. In truth, she had taken the long route back to town to prevent anyone from thinking she had been with Heatwave.

No one asked any further questions, much to her and Heatwave's relief, and went back to their different activities.

"The costume contest is about to start!" Frankie gasped after checking the time on her phone. "Come on, Cody!" She grabbed her duffle bag and took the mentioned boy by the wrist and pulled him away.

Kade laughed under his breath, earning him a good slap from Dani.

"Ow!" He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Come on Kade!" Hayley walked over to her boyfriend and grabbed his arm. "I signed us up too!" The redhead tried to protest but Hayley pulled him away nonetheless.

"I need to see this." Heatwave smirked.

They all made their way over to the small stage that was set up in front of City Hall. Fortunately, it wasn't too crowded and the bots were able to station themselves towards the back. Chief was scanning the rows for some empty seats when he saw Doc wave him over.

Next to him was Professor Baranova and between them sat what looked to be a large pumpkin. Upon closer inspection, the would-be vegetable turned out to be Cece in her Halloween costume.

Amy, Graham, Dani, and Chief took the vacant seats next to the Greenes and waited for the contest to begin.

Soon the lights dimmed and one by one, the contestants made their way across the stage to show off their costumes.

The girl Heatwave helped before was also in the contest. Her cat tail swayed behind her as she walked across the walkway. She caught sight of the firebot in the back and eagerly waved at him. Heatwave saw her and smiled back. Quickshadow caught him and playfully nudged his arm.

Two contestants later, Hayley and Kade walked across the stage. Kade's face was only a few shades lighter than his costume and he averted his face from his family's watchful gazes.

Heatwave snickered at his partner's embarrassment and nudged Boulder to snap a picture of him.

Following Kade and Hayley's turn, Cody and Frankie surprised the crowd by fazing from underneath the stage with their costumes on full display. They did a few tricks and showed off their 'powers' before fazing backstage.

It wasn't long till the contest came to an end and Mayor Luskey added up the scores to announce the winners.

"The winners for the best couple costumes go to...Kade and Hayley!" Mayor Luskey walked toward them and handed them a first-place ribbon. Despite his initial embarrassment, Kade looked rather pleased with the ribbon.

"The prize for the best matching costumes goes to...Frankie and Cody!" He handed the teens their ribbons.

"Noble!" Cody grinned. Frankie lifted her hand for a high-five and he happily complied.

Shortly after receiving their ribbons, Kade, Hayley, Cody, and Frankie made their way off the stage to find their families.

"Great job, Son." Chief ruffled his youngest's hair.

"Thanks, Dad." The blonde smiled.

"Congratulations, Frankie." Doc came over and hugged Frankie.

"Thanks, Daddy." She eagerly hugged him back.

"Where's HighTide?" Blades asked, seeing no sign of the sea bot.

"Probably somewhere telling his stories." Blurr guessed.

"We're about to head back to watch the movie." Blades said.

Right before they walked off, Heatwave saw the young girl had also won a first-place ribbon. Quickshadow shot him a knowing look before pulling him along with the others.

The sea bot was sitting in front of a decent group of children. Not a single word was uttered as the blue mech told a story. The rest of the team quietly waited for him to finish the tale so they could go back to the firehouse.


Once they had arrived back at the firehouse, Graham began to set up the DVD player and projector.

The rest of the team was setting up the couches and preparing some snacks.

Amidst all the commotion, Kade saw an opportunity to slip away but didn't make it to the red elevator.

"Kade?" The redhead flinched at the mention of his name and turned to face his sister's watchful gaze. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"I uh..Hayley and I were gonna...go stargazing." he stammered and took a few more steps back.

"Oh come on Kade, a movie sounds fun." Hayley came in with a bowl of popcorn in hand.

He opened his mouth to protest but only a sigh escaped his lips. He hated horror movies but he had a reputation and wasn't about to chicken out in front of his girlfriend. He allowed her to drag him to the couch and sat in the spot furthest from the TV.

Once everyone was comfortable, the lights were turned off and the movie began.

Chase felt the movie would be boring but changed his mind when the words 'Based on a true story' appeared on the screen.

Despite how non-scary the movie's cover seemed, Blurr was shaking on the crate he sat on. HighTide noticed and made a mental note to tease him after the movie ended.

Heatwave was sitting on the floor beside Quickshadow. As soon as the movie began to play, his optics began to feel heavy. He fought to keep them open and hoped the jump scares and screams would aid him in staying awake.

Blades was surprisingly taking the jump-scares well and found himself enjoying the film.

HighTide wasn't fazed by the jump scares but he was immersed in the plot and had to admit it wasn't too bad.

Quickshadow was altering from watching the film to writing on the built-in monitor on her arm. She had another report due in a few weeks and wanted to finish it so she wouldn't have to worry about it later on. Halfway through the movie, she felt a helm fall onto her shoulder pad and turned to see Heatwave recharging on her. She rolled her optics but didn't move away. He had a habit of falling asleep in the middle of movies.

As the movie went on, she felt her shoulder begin to go numb but she didn't want to disturb Heatwave's slumber. Primus knows he barely had time to recharge most nights.

The bots and humans continued to watch the movie in overall silence with the only exceptions being the occasional screams elicited by jump scares. At one point, Kade let out a high-pitched screech at a particularly disturbing scene and caused Heatwave to stir in his recharge but thankfully didn't wake him.

The movie ended and the bunker was filled with chatter once more.

"So, what did you think Blades?" Dani asked her partner as she flicked the lights back on.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought, it was actually pretty good." He smiled contentedly.

Blurr however, was another story. The speedster looked like he had seen a ghost.

Blades noticed and didn't pass up the opportunity to tease him. "What's wrong Blurr? Scared?"

"N-no I'm not!" The speedster protested. "I just.."

"Boo!" HighTide lightly shoved the purple mech from behind. "Ahh!" Blurr jumped out of his paint job and ran behind Salvage and Boulder.

HighTide smirked in amusement while Blades laughed till his engine hurt.

"..D-don't do that!" Blurr glared at the seabot and tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Serves you right." Blades smirked and Blurr only rolled his optics.

Meanwhile, a few meters away, Quickshadow was—for once—grateful for the mechs' bickering and gently nudged Heatwave before anyone noticed he had fallen asleep on her during the movie.

"Heatwave." She whispered and shook him with a little more force.

Heatwave jolted up and looked at her confused.

"You fell into recharge halfway through the film." She explained, rubbing her numb arm.

"..Oh...Did I fall asleep on you?" He noticed she was holding her arm. Quickshadow nodded and smiled at his flustered face.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Concern masked his face and he brought her arm up to examine it.

"I'm fine. My shoulder is numb but I'll manage." She waved off his concern and stood up.

Heatwave picked himself off the floor and followed her to where the other mechs were bickering. "..So, we let them figure it out?" he kept his voice down, referring to the conversation they had a few hours prior.

"Mhm." Quickshadow silently nodded and joined in on their teammates' banter.

Heatwave stood there for a second before joining in on all the bickering. He briefly glanced and the special ops femme and was met with a knowing smile.

It wouldn't be long till their secret was out.