Ch. 157

Arcee sighed at the hushed tone of their new base. It didn't feel the same. It wasn't somewhere they had 'moved' to; they had run there so they could live another day. It was just a place they had gone to out of a necessity.

A knock at the doorframe of the lab made the femme look up in surprise. She had gone to the laboratory to find some solitude. She had certainly not expected to be sought out by her peers.

"Arcee?" came Breakdown's deep voice, his yellow optics peering in, "Hey, you in here?"

Arcee sighed and nodded, "I'm here, Breakdown. You can turn on the lights if you want."

The mech switched on the overhead lights and stepped in, frowning lightly, "You're not hiding from everybody... are ya? Cause if it's one of those moments, I can just go."

The femme smiled lightly and patted the lab stool beside the one she was sitting in, "I was just taking some time away," Breakdown sat beside her and she crossed her arms as she leaned forward onto the lab desk, "Something wrong?"

The mech shrugged, "Just a few updates, I guess. We got most of the other portions of the base mapped out. Doc's setting up a master plan to get the electrical up and running so we'll have more space than just piling everybody in the bridge room."

Arcee nodded, "That's good to hear... But why come to tell me?"

"Well, I figured with Optimus sort of gone that you were taking charge?"

That was a thought Arcee hadn't wanted to think about.

After the femme flinched Breakdown tensed up, "Sorry, was that-"

"No," Arcee sighed, "don't be sorry. It's not fine, but... don't be sorry. You're looking for someone to take over where Optimus left off. I understand that... But Wheeljack seems to think that he's alive."

Breakdown blinked in confusion, "Prime's still kicking? How do we know?"

The femme gestured out the door, "Haven't you noticed that destiny's child is missing? He took the Phase Shifter with him, too."

The larger bot chuckled, "So Smokescreen's out there on the front line's, huh? Well, he better not get himself caught."

Arcee shook her helm, "He won't. He's pretty agile for being so inexperienced. And with Optimus looking after him, I doubt they could get into too much trouble."

Breakdown smiled, but it was heavy, "Then why haven't we tried to COMM them?"

Arcee paused and frowned ahead at nothing, "... Just in case. If they decide to... Let's just say I have a small feeling that they want to do something stupid..."

"Like sneak aboard the Nemesis to save Scream?"

The femme scoffed, "Primus, they better not. After everything that's happened, to go after them now would just get more of us killed or captured."

Breakdown sighed, "Mostly killed. And we should worry, but maybe not so much. Starscream's been through a lot; he can handle this."

"You think?"

The mech nodded, "Sure. After all that he's done before getting to this timeline and then reliving it all? He's got to have some sort of resistance built up in that chassis."

Arcee smiled weakly, "I hope you're right..."

"Oh, yoooohoooo~?" a purring voice called from the hallway, "Breakdown, you know I don't like playing hide-and-seek with you ever since the sunset ombré number three incident~"

Breakdown held in a shudder and grumbled, "In here, doc. I'm just having a conversation, that's all."

Knockout poked his helm in, "Oooo, who with?" when he spotted Arcee, he rolled his optics, "Oh, it's just you."

The femme smirked, "Yep, just me. Did you need to take Breakdown back?"

The red mech frowned, "No. Maybe. I guess it can wait," he planted his elbows down across the table from them, "So what are we gossiping about?"

"Just the repairs we were handling," Breakdown shrugged, "Nothing fun or... is the word saucy?"

Knockout purred, "The word is 'juicy', but I guess it could be saucy, too. And really? That's all?"

Arcee shook her helm, "Also about Smokescreen and Optimus."

The medic quieted down somewhat and sighed, "Yes, that could get a bit touchy... When are we going to look for them?"

The femme shuttered her optics, "I know it's hard, but keeping the rest of this team alive is a priority. I'd like to wait a couple days before trying to COMM them. At least then we'd have a smaller chance of accidentally getting them found or killed."

Knockout hummed gently, "Smart but... you think everyone else will go with that flow?"

Arcee sat up straighter, looking up at the ceiling, "I don't know... We'll talk to them in the morning..."