Disclaimer: I still don't own Transformers.

AN: These are not posted in chronological order, and will most likely be un-beataed.

AN2: Carly is G1 based, not Bayverse.

Wash and wax. Or, Why Sunstreaker is nice to Carly.

Earth year: 1997ish

The torrential rain and wind of the largest storm to hit the area in years had finally died down, and the Autobot base was slowly returning to normal. But the peace and quiet of the base was not to last, shattered by a loud cry of "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THE WASH RACKS ARE DOWN?" That could have only come from Sunstreaker.

Carly looked up for a moment in surprise at the volume, shrugged her shoulders, and then went back to cleaning up the various small sticks and branches that had blown into the currently empty parking area for the humans on base. It wasn't the first time the wash racks had been down, and she doubted it would be the last... but, then again... it was the first time since the new Autobots had arrived.

Shoving a few more sticks into a trash bag, she paused as a car so heavily coated in mud that you couldn't even tell what make it was, pulled into a spot and just sat there. It took her a moment of staring before she covered her mouth and exclaimed "Sunstreaker?" Dropping the bag on the ground in shock, as she realized just who it was.

There was a loud cranky growl before he ground out "No. It's the fraggin Tooth-fairy...Get lost squishy." before sinking down on his tires, adding in a sulky voice. "...I'm not in the mood to have you laughing at me too."

Now any other occasion Carly would have given anyone an ear or audio full for being that rude, but this time she just couldn't work up the ire.

Sure, normally Sunstreaker was rude, antisocial, threatening and more than a little cranky... Ok, so he was a jackass... but despite the threats, he had never hurt a human yet.

At the moment however, he reminded her of a kicked puppy... though if asked, she would deny that comparison to her dying day.

Dragging the bag of debris to the side of the building for later pickup, she spotted the water spigot on the wall and then grinned slightly before disappearing into the nearby storage shed for a few moments.

Sunstreaker was not having a good day, scratch that, not having a good week would be more like it. First he had been sent to the middle of nowhere searching for Decpticons that weren't there, stuck in the storm and ambushed on the way back, resulting in getting him not only covered in mud but also jamming mud and small stones into some of his joints.

On top of everything else, everyone seemed to be needling him about being dirty, and the wash racks were down and not going to be working again for at least three earth days. All told, he was dirty, frustrated, recharge deprived, and very cranky.

While Sunstreaker sulked, Carly was busy hauling stuff out of the shed and piling it near the spigot. First was the hose, then buckets, sponges, brushes, soap and rags soon followed. It was when she started to fill the buckets with water and add soap, that Sunstreaker became curious as to what she was going to do with them.

When she asked "How long are the wash racks down for this time?" He was surprised. It wasn't often that someone stuck around when he was in a mood like this. Even Sideswipe normally made himself scarce at times like this.

Having only been on Earth a little over four months, Carly very much doubted that Sunstreaker had ever considered any other way of getting clean other than the wash racks. Keeping the grin off her face was hard as she added the soap to the buckets of water, then grabbed the hose and turned towards Sunstreaker.

Sinking a little lower on his tires, he couldn't help but grumble as he ground out a response of "Three days..." While wondering what this human's malfunction was as he saw her frown at his answer and ask "You'd wait three days for...?"

Sunstreaker's engine growled and he practically spat out "It's not like I have much choice." While wondering 'Why the in the Pit won't she leave me alone?'

Carly shook her head and picked up a wet soapy rag from one of the buckets in her free hand and then walked up to the cranky 'bot, quickly turning the hose on him as she started working on cleaning off the thick layer of mud that was caked on his hood.

"What the slag?" Rocking back on his wheels at the sudden contact Sunstreaker rapidly backed away from Carly, leaving her standing a few feet away holding a wet cloth and hose, as well as a rather strange look on her face. Partly she was annoyed, but mostly, she was trying hard not to laugh at the sputtering noises he was making.

"Sunstreaker... really..." She shook her head. "I thought that you wanted to get that dirt off, since you have enough on you to grow a garden. You shouldn't have to suffer through three days of waiting for repairs to be done."

"...What do you want?" The suspicion in his voice was clear, it was very rare that someone did something nice for him. Usually it was because they wanted something, and he figured this time was no different, but the thought of three days caked in mud... well...

Carly was a bit surprised and confused at his response. When she answered "Want?... Um.. Nothing..?" The angry sounding rev of his engine followed by an equally mad and sarcastic sounding "Right. What do you want?" made it quite clear that he didn't believe her.

Dropping the rag back into the bucket, she tried to stay calm and shrugged her shoulders. "If your really going to insist on something for this... Consider it a bribe. Don't squish me and we'll call it even." Once again she got to hear that odd choking and sputtering sound coming from him as the anger seemed to vanish as fast as it came "I'm not a Decepticon..."

She grinned and said "I know... Now, get over here and let me wash that mud off. That can't be comfortable."