Disclaimer: Hello everyone. This is DragonScouter and Shadow Katakura coming back to you with the next exciting chapter of this story! We are hoping to have many twists and turns this season and we expect that it will throw everyone completely for surprise. Well, that's all I have to say...except that neither Shadow nor myself own Transformers Prime. We only own our OCs, who we love.

Shadow and I: Hope you all enjoy. *play cards while watching*

I sighed as I sat in my room. Earlier, I had decided to do some training with Jazz, Shadow, and Cliffjumper, to help when I was faced with faster opponents, and I had hoped that they would go slightly easy on me since I hadn't worked with my speed before. Of course, that was way too much to ask. Right after one round, I had to go and see Ratchet because I was so covered in dings and dents that I looked like meteor. After getting fixed by Ratchet, which included a lot of lecturing by both him and Optimus about sticking with what I knew for now, I had gone to my room to take a quick nap to relax.

Now, I had just woke up from that nap and, as my systems finished coming online, I found myself thinking about our new mission from Alpha Trion. It was going to be hard to be separate from Shadow but, that was another problem. What did he mean that we would have to be separate for this mission to work? I couldn't think clearly now and so I stood up and stretched before walking out into the hall.

Once I made it to the main room, though, things started moving quickly.

"PRIME!"

I jumped when I heard Fowler's voice yell that. I mean, I had just woke up and already I was dealing with the yelling. For a quick moment, I felt like going back to my room and recharging. But, when I locked optics with Shadow, and she gave me a 'don't you dare sneak off' look, I knew that I was stuck here. So, I walked so I was standing next to Shadow before I whispered. "This is going to be fun." Of course, I said it sarcastically.

Nodding, she motioned forward and said, "Yeah, and since Fowler is calling all crabby like, than this is when Wheeljack comes back."

Yeah, and that was a stressful episode. "What in blazes are your people doing out here?" Fowler's face was pretty close to the screen at first but then he backed up slightly before he continued. "We had an agreement! No collateral damage!" Yeah, Fowler was mad. Of course, I would be mad too. He thought that the Autobots were disregarding their agreement. But, we all knew that wasn't true. At least...not the ones here.

Thankfully, Optimus answered Fowler quickly. "I am sorry Agent Fowler, but all Autobots are present and accounted for."

Fowler seemed to calm down slightly at that. "Then explain why I am receiving reports of two jumbo sized bots, mixing it up, twenty miles outside Omaha?"

"Maybe its da 'Cons?" Jazz suggested.

I nodded at that. "There has been plenty of infighting lately."

"Yeah, Megatron can't seem to keep his troops in line." Shadow commented, and I did not miss the small smirk that she sent towards me. Yeah, I knew that the Decepticons weren't as...organized...as they Autobots where. But, they were still my favorites.

"Well, I'm just arriving on the scene." Fowler informed us before switching to his outer camera. "Have a look."

The screen then showed Fowler circling above one of the ships and, from the show, I knew exactly who that was. "I don't know." Bulkhead started. "Paint job aside, that can't be Skyquake." He then motioned to Cliff, Bumblebee, and Optimus before saying, "Optimus, Cliff, and 'Bee pounded him into the ground."

"Before Starscream yanked him back out, as some undead terrorcon." Arcee commented.

Seemed like Cliff was feeling out because he then said, "But, whose the dance partner?"

We all then watched as Fowler's camera shifted toward the other side of the fight and I let a small grin on my face when I saw that it was Wheeljack. He was my favorite Autobot, that we knew was coming, and it was great to have him back on Earth.

Ratchet let out a gasp before saying, "By the Allspark, it is one of ours!"

"Wheeljack." Of course, that gasp was nothing to Bulkhead's short laugh of joy before he clapped the four bots in front of him on the back, which did include Shadow but thankfully not me, before he said, "'Jackie's back!"

"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln's back!" Actually, I am pretty sure you would be going all fan-girl if he did that Fowler. "We have to contain the situation before we all wind up on the eleven o'clock news!"

Of course, just because Fowler would care if Abraham Lincoln was back, that didn't mean that he wasn't wrong. If the bots got exposed now, then they would really screw up the time line, and our mission from Alpha Trion, and my processor. Not sure which one would come first, and the last one was still possible.

"We are on our way Agent Fowler." Optimus responded to Fowler before hanging up the line. Then, he turned to all of us before saying, "Pandimala," I have a funny feeling that he is going to say, "since we are going to be near a large human population, you are to stay behind and man the ground bridge with Ratchet." Yeah, something like that. Frag it! I hadn't been out since the whole saving Jazz and Forge of Solus Prime thing a week ago. Not even for my little bit of fresh air for my claustrophobia. I was really starting to feel boxed in and, if Prime didn't let me out soon, then I was going to force my way out of here, and it wasn't going to be pretty. "Everyone else, transform, and roll out!" That's it! Where is a blaster when you need to shoot yourself? I had already gone though one full season of that stupid line and if I had to go though another one, I was going to go even more insane than Blitzwing from Animated was. I am a 'Con fan and this was pure, unrestrained, cruel torture!

But, instead of losing it, I just sent a small look of boredom to Shadow. While I could see that she looked sorry for me, all she did in response was shrug her shoulders before she ran through the bridge. Since she was the last one, Ratchet closed the bridge behind her and turned toward me before saying, "Pandimala, how are you feeling?"

And Ratchet had asked me that every solar cycle since the whole falling over a cliff with Jazz thing. But, I couldn't yell at the mech so I simply sighed before saying, "I'm fine Ratchet. Just bored."

"How can you be bored when we have to watch the children whenever they are here?" Ratchet asked me.

Of course, he brought up an excellent point. Miko had been going all crazy lately with her antics and it was all any of us could do to make sure that we could get her back to base quickly, since we had pretty much all given up on actually stopping her from coming with. Since I had been the bot at base all week, 'Miko-sitting' duty had become almost my full time job here at the base. "Besides the fact that they aren't here right now, even watching the kids is getting kinda boring. I haven't been outside in a week Ratchet, and I'm not sure how much longer Prime will have me on base-arrest and I'm also not sure how much longer I am going to be able to stay in here without panicking. I'm on edge and I'm going to need some sort of release soon." Scrap! I hadn't meant to blabber to Ratchet or all bots. Guess that really said how much I needed to get some air.

He nodded but, before the medic could get a word in, Optimus called in. "Ratchet, we require a ground bridge, and Wheeljack will need some medical attention." Great, they were all coming back now. At least Shadow, Cliff, and Wheeljack would be some fun.

It didn't take long after Ratchet activated the bridge for the bots to run though. Thankfully, it didn't look like any of the others besides Wheeljack were hurt, who Ratchet ran straight up to with his welder in servo. That was a relief. I worried about Shadow when we weren't together on a mission, and that had been a lot lately. Hopefully, my little talk with Ratchet would help me get outside sooner and maybe Shadow could come with?

"Ow!" Wheeljack yelped as he pulled his injured shoulder away from Ratchet. "Take it easy doc. I need that arm."

To this day, I would always love Ratchet's response. "Hold still and maybe you'll keep it."

As Ratchet went back to working on Wheeljack's arm, Wheeljack looked up at Optimus before saying, "Look commander, apologies for the fireworks. Won't happen again." He then got really serious before saying, "But I've tracked Dreadwing across a hundred light years of space."

The Autobots all looked confused at that before Bulkhead finally asked, "I thought you were roaming the galaxy, y'know, looking for Autobot refugees?"

"I was, until I found one, a Wrecker." Wheeljack answered and, when a sad look came across his faceplate, I realized that, at that moment, I had never realized how deeply losing Seaspray had really hit Wheeljack. It was almost unbearable to watch...and I wasn't even a fan of the Autobots.

Everyone was surprised by Wheeljack's revelation that he found an Autobot. "Who?" Cliffjumper and Bulkhead asked at the same time. While I was interested in why Cliffjumper wanted to know, I knew that I had to keep my vocals shut until the time was right.

"Seaspray." Yeah, the others should have realized that something was wrong at the sullen tone that Wheeljack had when he said the, who I knew to be, deceased Wrecker's name.

Bulkhead, however, didn't seem to get it. He let out a laugh before asking, "How is old barnacle butt?"

"Not so good Bulk. Blown to bits actually." Wheeljack responded, and kinda bluntly. Though, with how think the Autobot helms were,

I resisted a yelp when Shadow elbowed me in the side and sent me a glare. Yeah, though I knew that she technically couldn't read my mind, I knew that she had my thoughts down to almost a perfect science. But, that's what best friends were for.

"What?" Bulkhead gasped in shock, straightening up, before walking a few steps backwards. "No..."

"Dreadwing," I jumped when Shadow was the one to growl that from next to me. While I knew that Dreadwing was her favorite out of the 'Cons, and that said a lot, I also knew that she liked the Autobots more and she definitely did not like it when a 'Con killed a 'Bot. Yeah, she was going to be impossible for this episode.

Wheeljack nodded solemnly at Shadowstalker's response before saying, "My flier, the Jackhammer, picked up Seaspray's signal a couple light years from Adaaran. We made contact, and arranged a meeting in the Dromedon system. But Dreadwing must have intercepted that transmission, 'cause he got to Seaspray first. Proximity bomb. Was supposed to take us both out. Guess I should be glad the Jackhammer can take a punch." He then paused, probably at the memory of losing his comrade, before continuing. "I picked up Dreadwing's ion trail and tracked it through a dozen solar systems before catching up with him. And he led me right back to this marble. Some coincidence huh?" Yeah Wheeljack, welcome to the fun world of fate, where Fate loves to make everything that seems impossible to happen possible.

"I know of this Dreadwing." Optimus responded. Oh really? Then why didn't you recognize him when Fowler was showing us the aerial surveillance? "He was captain of a seeker armada, and as such, like his twin Skyquake, fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause."

Jazz nodded and said, "Yeah, he probably came to Earth to hook up with ol' Bucket Head."

"Hope he's enjoying the visit." Wheeljack started as he stood up. "It's going to be his last." He seemed ready for a fight and, honestly, he was so pumped that I was ready for a fight now.

However, Optimus seemed to have something to say. "Wheeljack, this planet is heavily inhabited. Any strike we make against the Decepticons must be carefully measured; as a team." Yeah, not the best word to use around Wheeljack right now...or ever really. He wasn't exactly a team player. "Lest we risk endangering the human population."

Yeah...Wheeljack did not look happy about that. "Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?"

"You! Loose cannon!" I jumped when I heard Fowler yell that, that man has this strange ability to sneak up on bots who supposedly have advanced audio systems. Maybe mine are broken? However, despite my jumpiness, Fowler continued to speak. "Your cowboy antics almost blew our cover!"

"Cover?" Wheeljack asked, confusion written all over his faceplate.

I decided to finally get a word in and so I said, "We're robots in disguise. You need an Earth based mode outside of base." Of course, I barely held back that it had to be one that didn't attract to much attention...like mine seemed to I guess.

And again, angry Fowler opened his mouth. "That space ship you shot down? Not Earth based! I had to jump through some big hoops to get it hauled out of plain sight." He then turned to Prime and, before I could even try to stop Fowler from saying something stupid, I was too late. "You need to keep a tighter leash on your people Prime."

And Wheeljack was not happy. "A tighter leash?" The Wrecker growled as he walked up to Fowler and said, "Let me clarify, tiny,"

"'Jackie..." Bulkhead tried to stop Wheeljack. But, I knew it wasn't going to help and it didn't.

"I'm not one of Optimus Prime's 'people." And as Wheeljack said that, I frowned. Not at Wheeljack saying that. I completely agreed with him on that. But, I realized at that moment that was what everyone thought I was. One of the Autobots. While I didn't hate the Autobots...per-say, I was not on to be kept on a leash. Now I was mad and I felt my wings twitch up slightly in anger as the realization hit home with me.

As Wheeljack walked out, I realized that this was my best opportunity to leave the base, even if it did place me in some sort of danger. So, I walked in front of Bulkhead and Optimus before saying, "I'll talk to him." When everybot, and Fowler, gave me a confused sort of look, I sighed before saying, "I know it's been a while since Shadow and I have brought this little point up, but her and I are from a dimension where this is all a television show, which means that I know how to best talk to Wheeljack right now without causing anything to go wrong." Of course, I left out that nice little part about Shadow and I messing with the time stream so even we weren't sure what was going to one hundred percent happen. But, that would ruin my argument so I simply kept it at that.

Finally, after the longest pause in history, Optimus nodded and said, "Very well."

It was so hard to keep my excitement about going outside down but I managed as I walked toward the lift and made my way up to the roof, where Wheeljack was working on his ship. That thought reminded me that Wheeljack was an inventor, as well as a warrior, and after this was over, I was so going to ask him to teach me to build a weather machine.

….Okay, maybe not the most relevant thought at the moment.

Once the lift brought me outside, which immediately felt wonderful on my wings, I walked over to where Wheeljack was working on his ship. "Hey Wheeljack," The Wrecker turned to me before I continued. "Even if it wasn't for the humans, we couldn't fight the Decepticons right now. We are way too outnumbered to even thinking of standing a chance, despite what Shadowstalker and Cliffjumper would have you believe." Yeah, I threw Shadow's name out there. She could stand with her crazy mech on this point.

Wheeljack angrily shook his helm before saying, "Femme, you have no idea what you are talking about. Many good bots have lost their sparks to the 'Cons, and we are just sitting on our afts doing nothing."

Now it was my turn to shake my helm. "That's exactly the problem Wheeljack. There aren't many bots left and we have to think about the moves we are going to take before we fragging take them. The best chance of us ending this war is getting behind Optimus and finishing it. But, we have to play by the rules." Bull. That was all that was coming out of my mouth right now. I didn't believe almost any of what I had just said but I hoped that Wheeljack was convinced.

However, it seemed like Wheeljack was not going to make this easy on me. "Guys like Optimus, they talk a good game, but when you're in the scrapheap, they don't want to get their hands dirty."

As much as it pained me to be the one to defend Optimus, I decided to stray from my Decepticon fan ways, temporarily, and defend the semi. "Hey, you don't know Optimus. He's not like that. He would be the first to charge out and fight the Decepticons to help the Autobots."

Wheeljack scoffed, which was starting to slightly annoy the scrap out of me, before saying, "He's the real thing, right? I've heard it before so try playing a different tune."

The only thing that stopped me from growling at Wheeljack and just throttling the mech was a beeping sound that I knew was a comm signal. That could only mean one thing. "Wheeljack, I know you're out there listening." Dreadwing started over the line. "I have a proposition for you."

"That's," I started as we walked onto Wheeljack's ship. It was a really tight fit for me, and I had to fold my wings so I would fit, but I managed..

"Dreadwing." Wheeljack finished my statement as we stopped in front of the console.

Thankfully, Dreadwing continued after that. "Meet me at these coordinates, if you have the spark." The line then went dead. Great. I knew that I had to go with and I could only hope that the episode had changed and neither of us would end up strapped to that bomb. Of course, I knew that one of us had to so Wheeljack could see that Optimus was different, but I could always hope...right?

"I'll see you there 'Con, just to watch you fry." Wheeljack muttered out loud as he sat down in the pilot's seat.

While I figured that Wheeljack realized that it was a trap, I figured I had better warn him anyways...in a way. "You do know that this is a trap...right?"

As per usual, Wheeljack smirked in his way before he said, "Of course I do. But, that hasn't stopped me before." When he said that, I realized that I had no justification to going with him. But, right before I was about to justify my reasons for coming with, Wheeljack motioned to the seat next to him. "You coming with?"

I nodded and sat down, slightly confused before turning to him. "Why? I thought you liked to go at it alone?"

He smirked back at me as he took off before saying, "Because, since Bulk is obviously not going to be my back-up, I need some bot to call in for clean-up."

Great, I got turned into the note passer. When did this happen? While I wanted to complain, I held back. At least I was finally out of that base. "I guess I can do that much." Silence then fell between us for a while. Great. Silence. I loved that stupid fragging no good thing...

Yeah, I hated it.

But, the silence did give room for me to start and think. I knew that, in this episode, Dreadwing was mainly out for revenge against the Autobots for what they did to his twin. I realized then that sort of revenge drive is what Arcee was kinda known for before Shadow and I came here and saved Cliff. Maybe the two factions had more in common than they thought they did.

When we were, I was guessing, about three quarters of the way to the location, I jumped when Wheeljack suddenly addressed me. "Hey femme, since we are going to be working together on this, I figure I might need to know your name. So, what is it?"

I panicked for a nano-click. If I told Wheeljack my name, than he would know that I was the human girl who had pushed Miko out of the way when he was last here, and who he had saved from Decepticons along with Shadow back when she was Shayla and I was Daniella. But, my panic quickly disappeared when I realized that I went by a new name now. "The name's Pandimala, though it might be easier if you just call me 'Mala right now."

He nodded at that. "Alright then Pandimala, this is what we are going to do. When we land, I want you to hide in the background and follow Dreadwing and I wherever our fight leads. I want you ready as a secret ace just in case things get a little messy."

Since I knew exactly when I was going to be entering this fight, I nodded and said, "Sounds like a plan."

Thankfully, there wasn't any time for silence as we landed and, as Wheeljack ran toward the coordinates that Dreadwing gave us, I kept to the shadows and kept an optic on Wheeljack.

"I wasn't certain you'd show." Dreadwing taunted as he turned to face Wheeljack.

In return, Wheeljack simply stated, "I don't like unfinished business." before he put his servos by his grenade, ready to launch it at Dreadwing.

In response, Dreadwing stood at a battle ready stance and I could feel the tension as it traveled though the air and brushed against my wings, causing them to shiver slightly. This was going to be quite the show and I was glad that I was not going to miss it. While I wished that Shadow was here to see this, I knew two things that stopped me; I knew that three was a crowd and I knew that Cliffjumper would offline me if I knowingly allowed Shadow to come anywhere near getting a bomb strapped to her.

My chassis jumped in surprise when both of them threw their grenades at each other and they hit in perfect unison, causing a massive explosion in front of them. "Whoa." I muttered to myself. That was pretty awesome and it made me wish that I had grenades like that. But, instead, I had my swords, my dagger, and my shoulder cannons. Add those to my size and I was perfect...even though I didn't have a blaster.

But, I couldn't stare long as I ran to keep up with the two mechs as Wheeljack chased Dreadwing into a crevice. The running. That was the only bad part about this. But, I had to suck it up if I was going to keep this episode going smoothly. Of course, I still hoped that it would somehow change and maybe we could just capture Dreadwing instead? Hopefully?

I made it to the dead end before the mech's did and so I lowered my shoulder cannons and stayed at the ready. I had to be ready to make my move once Wheeljack got Dreadwing into position. Then, I would be able to strike and nothing would stop me from claiming ultimate victory...Okay, maybe not.

"If you're thinking about flying out of here," I heard Wheeljack start and I knew that it was my time to make my move.

So, I revealed myself at the top of the edge and made sure my cannons were aimed at Dreadwing before saying, "You better think again Dreadwing."

From his surprised expression, I thought that we were actually going to change everything and no bot was going to have to have the bomb strapped to them. But, that idea was disintegrated when Dreadwing smirked and Wheeljack looked up in shock. Oh slag. I really hated this. My entire chassis felt numb when I watched Dreadwing push that button.

"'Mala!" Wheeljack yelled out to me in a warning.

But, by the time my chassis snapped out of its numb shock, I was already falling down with the explosion. Before I could even think to cover myself against the boulders, I felt something hard slam into my helm and it was lights out.

Some Time Later

The sound of something counting down caused me to groan as I came out of the unconscious state that I had recently been in. At first, I couldn't remember what was going on. But, as the memories slowly started to come back to me, I felt terror travel through my systems. Oh scrap!

My optics rapidly came online and I panicked when I saw that Dreadwing was standing in front of me, and, from the looks of it, he had just activated the bomb. Scrap! I was so going to offline. I just wasn't sure if I wanted the bomb to do the deed or Shadow. The bomb would be faster, and much less painful.

"I see you are awake femme." Dreadwing addressed me as he stepped back.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him. Although I already knew the answer to that, I had to at least act like I didn't. Plus, I was curious as to what his response was going to be, since we had never even seen if Dreadwing had talked to Bulkhead while putting the bomb on him.

He seemed slightly surprised that I asked him this before he put back on his neutral expression before saying, "The Autobots killed my split spark twin Skyquake. You must pay for this. I cannot let my twin go unavenged. Also, I have no doubt in my processor that the other Autobots will come and retrieve you and that will mean that I will take more of your accursed kind down in his memory."

Okay, if I was going to offline, then I was making sure that Dreadwing knew that I was not an Autobot. Plus, who knew? Maybe he would let me go because I wasn't one! "That all sounds perfectly alright," He stared at me in wide optic shock, like I was purely insane. But, I wasn't done yet. "except for one tiny little detail. I'm not so much caring that I am offlining, I knew that it had to happen one solar cycle. But, let's get one thing straight." I then narrowed my optics. "I am not an Autobot."

The Decepticon seeker stared at me in shock, well, probably continued shock, and he continued to do so for quite some time. It was actually getting kinda annoying. If he was going to say something, say something. Otherwise, go and hide to set his trap so I wasn't annoyed. Finally, though, he shook his helm and the shock went away from his faceplate. "Then I must say that I am sorry that you have to go through this, neutral. Maybe you should have stayed true to yourself instead of getting involved with the Autobots. If you had, then you would not be joining the Well this solar cycle." He then turned and jumped into the air, presumably to get set up.

But, I didn't care. I was staring ahead in shock. What Dreadwing had just said, now everything was starting to make sense. Now, after all that turmoil that I had put myself through, I finally realized what Alpha Trion was talking about when he told us about our mission this time. Everything made sense. Yes, it was going to be hard, but I knew that it had to be done. Also, I couldn't let Shadow know that I had figured it out. For it to work, she had to be kept in the dark.

The sound voices brought me out of my self revelation and I listened as the sound of pedesteps came ever closer to my position. Maybe I would be lucky and it would be Optimus and Wheeljack, like it was in the episode? Please?

My spark fell when the sound of beeping from the scanner increased and, instead of two, three bots came out from around the corner. I didn't mind to see Optimus and Wheeljack. I was super happy to see them, actually. No, my feeling of terror came from the third bot with them, one that was sending me a huge glare that would have sent Unicron and Megatronus from the Original Thirteen running to the deepest, darkest crevice of the Pit.

It was Shadow.

"Uh, hey bots?" I greeted nervously with a slight wave.

"Scrap." I heard Wheeljack mutter.

But, I didn't care about that as Shadow marched toward me until she was right in front of me. "Pandimala what were you thinking coming with Wheeljack. You and I both knew that this was going to happen and yet you did it anyways! Sometimes I think that you really just want to see how close you can come to offlining yourself. Well, congratulations Pandimala! This takes the lead by far!"

While I did flinch as she yelled at me, I knew that she was just venting because she was scared for me. So, I sighed and said, "Don't worry Shadow, I'm worried too."

The look of anger stayed on her faceplate for a few nano-clicks before she finally sighed and said, "Yeah, I'm worried. You really got yourself into a heap of trouble 'Mala."

"Shadow," Optimus addressed us as both he an Wheeljack walked up. "since you and Pandimala have knowledge of what is happening, can you disarm the bomb?"

I knew the answer to that before Shadow shook her helm and answered the Prime. "No. 'Mala and I have changed too much here that I can't disarm it."

Then, Optimus turned to Wheeljack. "Wheeljack, can you disarm the bomb?"

An involuntary flinch came from me as Wheeljack opened up the bomb and addressed Optimus. "Fail safes, dummy leads, booby traps; it's a work of art." Okay Wheeljack, you didn't need to sound that impressed with the bomb that risked killing me and taking all three of you with me.

Speaking of that. "Look, you three need to get out of here. I have no idea when this is going to go off and I don't want you three blowing up with me!" I tried to convince them.

Of course, Shadow gave me a look that asked if I was trying to be funny and Optimus and Wheeljack just plain ignored me. Great, I try to be nice and make sure that the good bots don't get blown up with me and they are just throwing my care to the wind. Thanks bots. Maybe next time, I'll ask Dreadwing to hook you all up to a bomb and see how much you want others around. Closing my optics, I sighed to try and let some of this built up stress out of my systems.

When I onlined my optics again, I noticed that Optimus and Shadow were missing. "Where are Shadow and Optimus?"

Wheeljack turned around and shrugged. "You're friend probably took your advice and Optimus, well, what did I tell you earlier femme? When the scrap hits the fan blades, the generals are the first to bail."

But, I shook my helm. That didn't sound like either of them. "No, you don't know Shadow...or Optimus."

The Wrecker just shook his helm and continued with working on the bomb. But, as the nano-clicks ticked away, I felt panic continue to rise inside of me. I couldn't let them offline. I had to make sure that they all continued. While I knew that Shadow needed me for our new mission from Alpha Trion, at least she could take it over. I had faith in her. Now, I just had to get away from Wheeljack and make sure I was far away from all of them when this bomb went off. Also, I had to make sure that there was not a single chance for civilian casualties. "Wheeljack, get the frag out of here!" I yelled at the mech.

However, it seemed like he was not going to be listening to me. "No way. You risked your aft to make sure that I had backup and, from what I understood from what Optimus said, you made sure that it was you and not me in this situation. Now, I'm going to get you out of it."

Shaking my helm, I decided to give it one more try. "Face it Wheeljack, there is only one bot around here who can diffuse this and that's Dreadwing!" I could hear the fear in my own vocals, so I doubted that Wheeljack missed it. And I was scared. I was scared of offlining. I was scared of offlining and taking any of them with me. I got myself into this mess, and I was the only one who was going to suffer because of it. That was going to be final.

The sound of blaster fire caused Wheeljack to turn away from me. This was my chance. "Blaster fire's getting closer. As if,"

BANG!

I didn't let Wheeljack finish and used a good amount of my strength to break my right fist out of the restraint that Dreadwing had me in before I slammed said fish into Wheeljack. I would feel bad later if I lived through this. "Sorry Wheeljack," As I got out of my other restrain, I continued. "it's because I care about you all."

Then, before he could recover from my hit, I quickly ran forward, trying to find my way through this maze of shipping crates and toward the water. There was no way that I was going to risk the three of them and now I just had to find the water. Once I jumped in, then the bomb's power would be centered solely on me...and maybe a few fish. "Water. Where the frag is the end of this maze and the water?" I muttered to myself and I continued to run forward.

When I finally saw the water, I felt, for the first time during this entire mess, relief run through my systems. Finally! Now I just had to jump in and no one else would pay for my mistake. Things had already changed because of Shadow and I and I knew that this was going to be no different. "Sorry fishies." I muttered to the fish, who probably didn't care. Since I was about to be sleeping with them, I had best start off with an apology. But, this was going to be worth it. No bot else was going to die this solar cycle. That, I was going to,

"Pandimala wait!"

I almost slowed down when, to my surprise, both Shadow and Wheeljack dropped in front of me and held out their servos to stop me. "Out of my way!" I yelled at them in a growl as I made contact with them and started to push them toward the water.

But, as we moved, Shadow shook her helm. "No way 'Mala! I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for nothing! You are not going to leave me! Not now!"

I continued to run forward until their pedes were at the edge by the water. No point in taking them in with me. The whole point of my jumping into the water was to make sure that they avoided getting blown up with me.

"Will you just listen to us femme?" Wheeljack growled.

In response, I shook my helm. "No! You two have to move! You can't diffuse the bomb!" I was really scared. I was not going to let them stay near me when this thing went off. Maybe I could fly out of here? They wouldn't be able to be with me up there. I would be too high up for them and I would just be taking out some seagulls with me.

But, before I could even try to move to transform, Shadow nodded. "Well, duh Pandimala. We know that! Like you said, only Dreadwing can diffuse that thing."

"And Optimus knows it too." Wheeljack finished for her.

My chassis was shaking with indecision and fear as I stood there. I couldn't let them get hurt because of my stupid choice but, at the same time, Dreadwing was my only chance and, as long as nothing went wrong, then Optimus was going to be catching him any moment, and we had to be there. If we weren't than all of their work to help me would be for nothing. But, then what would happen if Dreadwing refused to disarm it?

After a click, I made up my processor. "Fine, let's head over to Optimus and see if he caught Dreadwing yet. But," I was agreeing with them up to a point but I wanted to put in a loop hole for me. "at the first sign that this thing is going to go off, I'm going to make sure that none of you are in the danger zone."

While Wheeljack just turned forward and led us to Optimus, Shadow was giving me a look that said that she was not going to be letting me get blown up. If I survived this, I would have to thank her for being such a stubbornly loyal friend.

"Dreadwing, diffuse the bomb. Or fall victim to your own devise." Optimus stated to Dreadwing as the three of us arrived next to him and stood in a circle around Dreadwing. I was scared and hoped that they all could convince Dreadwing to diffuse this thing. Otherwise, I was going to go splat and I was hoping that it would be only me. Of course, I was really hoping that I would live through this. But, the whole me dying alone was my backup hope...just in case the first one failed.

Dreadwing, however, was not going to make this easy it seemed. "I will gladly sacrifice myself to avenge my brother." Great. I really didn't want to die today! I had just figured out what Alpha Trion wanted us to do, to my own surprise, and I didn't want to end off on that.

"Then we will in turn, gladly join the Allspark with our sister." Optimus quipped back right away. And, just as quickly, I felt a huge wave of guilt wash over me. While I didn't hate the Autobots, I definitely still like the 'Cons better, and now Optimus, Shadow, and Wheeljack were willing to join me in the Allspark if I died from this. Stupid guilt.

"And you." Wheeljack added.

However, instead of the Wrecker finishing that, Shadow took over. "You'll never shake us Dreadwing." I would have smirked at that except for the fact that I was terrified about the bomb going off too soon. If it did, then I wouldn't be able to get far enough away to protect them. But, if I did run too soon, that could ruin the bluff that these three were playing. Well, the bluff that I hoped to Primus that they were playing.

"Very well." I felt so much tension leave me when Dreadwing promised that he would disarm the bomb. I had been so ready to just jump up and get the heck out of here but Dreadwing had saved me so much trouble now.

Once Wheeljack, Shadow, and Optimus had the magnetic crane hook off of Dreadwing, I felt tense again as Dreadwing examined the bomb on my chest. From the show, I was pretty sure that he had to just pull the blue wire and all of this would be,

I about had a spark attack when he pulled the yellow wire. When the bomb disarmed, I felt relief. Relief that Shadow hadn't tried to deactivate it earlier. If she had, then I had a feeling that she would have done what I did and pull the blue wire like what Dreadwing had originally done in the show.

"Too close." Shadow whispered to me with a light jab of her elbow to my side. Guess I deserved that much. But, I was still too shaken from the whole inch from death experience to actually say anything to her in response.

Thankfully, I didn't have to as Wheeljack took over. "I had it narrowed down to the yellow or the blue, or the red." Sure you did Wheeljack. It was probably for the best that everything had gone alright and Dreadwing had diffused the bomb.

Explosions going off all around me caused me to jump in panic and, for a split nano-click, I thought that Dreadwing had lied and that I was about to go kaput. But, thankfully, it was just the other bombs he had placed around the wharf. When Dreadwing transformed and flew off, Optimus, Wheeljack, and Shadow sent shots after him. But, I didn't join them. I wasn't sure why, but it didn't feel right at the click. Maybe it was because I had just escaped death by a breath?

"So..." Wheeljack started, motioning to the fire laced crates around us. "Who do we call for cleanup?"

The others shook their helms before Optimus called for a bridge back to base, after calling Fowler with the cleanup request. Once the bridge was opened, I was hesitant to go through it. "What's the matter 'Mala?" Shadow asked.

Motioning to the deactivated bomb on my chestplate, I sighed before saying, "What if the ground bridge sets it off."

Before Shadow could answer, Wheeljack scanned the bomb before saying, "Nothing to worry about. Even if some of the energy from the bridge hit the bomb, it wouldn't be able to activate the trigger since Dreadwing unplugged it. Once we get back to base, you can have Ratchet take it off."

Nodding slowly in response, I hesitantly made my way into the bridge. It was such a relief to make it through to the other side. Of course, just because it was a relief, didn't mean that I wasted any time. While Ratchet took the bomb off of me, which I couldn't wait for, I listened to Optimus and Wheeljack talk.

"Listen, Commander," Wheeljack started. Was the great Wheeljack...apologizing? "Just want to say it was an honor watching you work. I, uh...think maybe I had the wrong idea about you."

Optimus nodded before saying, "And it would seem you place a greater value on community than you otherwise led on." He then extended his servo toward Wheeljack.

However, it seemed like this was moving too fast for the Wrecker, and I understood that completely. "Whoa! Let's not jump the gun here." He then tried to back up slightly.

But, Cliffjumper was behind him and seemed to want to get a word in. "Come on Wheeljack, if you leave, you'll probably just end up right back here anyways."

"All that wasted fuel." Arcee added.

"And energon is in short supply." That was Shadow.

Of course, Bumblebee had to get in on it. "Come on Wheeljack, don't go."

"Yeah 'Jackie! You just got here!" And there was Bulkhead. Great, almost everybot was talking and I wanted to! But, I was too scared to with the devise of death still attached to me.

"Then again, we do have limited space." Ratchet thought he should comment.

And I did not. "Hey, Ratchet! Focus on me and this Pit bound devise attached to me." I growled that because I was kinda tense that it was still on me. Bulkhead already had his off by the time we got to this point in the show and now I was stuck on the sidelines watching because fate wanted to change this slag. Thanks fate.

However, Wheeljack had other plans. "I don't think I'm ready to give up my freedom just yet. Maybe I could do some exploring. See if this rock suits me."

"No offense to the Jackhammer," Shadow started,

"But you'll need an Earth based vehicle mode." Bulkhead finished.

Wheeljack seemed to think about that for a nano-click before he looked up and nodded. So, Bulkhead led Wheeljack out of the room, presumably to help him pick an alt mode and say goodbye to his friend.

Almost as soon as they were gone, Ratchet finally got the bomb off of me and I quickly stood up, relief flooding through me, and backed away from the bomb. I didn't want to be next to that thing, or even see it ever again! Actually, even being in the same room as it was making me nervous. So, turning to the others, I smiled and said, "Hey bots, I think I'm going to hit the berth. It's been a long day and I don't think I'll live if I stay up for any more of it." I then waved goodbye.

Shadow looked like she was going to follow but, before she could, Cliffjumper walked up to her and asked her something, though I couldn't hear what it was. Before I disappeared down the hall, I saw Shadow cast me a concerned look and I sent her a look of reassurance back, hoping to make her less worried.

Once I made it to my room, I let the door shut before I laid on my berth and started my shutdown procedures. I was kinda glad that Cliffjumper had stopped Shadow from coming to see me. If he hadn't, then I wasn't sure if I could keep the fact that I knew what we had to do, to make Alpha Trion's plan a success, from her and, while I didn't want to do it, I knew that I had to keep her in the dark about this. For it to even work, Shadow had to be on the same need to know as the Autobots. Now, my only problem was figuring out when I would implement the plan.

Finally, the stress of the day finally drained me of energy and I soon found myself falling into the oblivion that is recharge.

And that, our dear readers, is the end of this highly intense chapter! I was hoping to finish this sooner but work got really hectic and I had to work really long shifts. But, here it is an I hope you all liked it! Next chapter is going to be both written and posted by Shadow.

Me: Alright, now, let's go find someone to prank. That'll be fun.

Shadow: Um, no. You are going to get it for making me have to wait for this!

Me: *runs away from Shadow*

Both of us: *time freezes around us except for our voices in our heads* Good bye for now! *continues to play 'Run-A-Way-From-Shadow'*