A/N: Don't be confused! From here on out, every other chapter is a flashback! (All the ones in italics are flashbacks.)

4. First Meeting


He smiled and it threw me for a loop. For a moment I stared dumbly at him, marveling at how optics the same shade of blue as mine and as all the other Autobots' could appear so brilliant and new. Perhaps it was just because they were set against brilliant white plating and accented by red trim.

"I'm Skyfire," he said, his voice low and smooth and serene. "Er… I was told to come here, they said someone could help me? I'm… you see, I'm here from the science commissioner and the mechs there told me that there was another—"

Comprehension dawned on me. "Right," I said, nodding, trying to act professional and probably failing. "Nova… er, my designation, it's Nova. You just transferred here from Altihex, didn't you?"

Relief that he had found the right mech made him smile again. I couldn't help but stare in fascination. Skyfire was almost twice my size, the tallest flier I'd ever seen, and as intimidating as it was it also drew me. He looked like a shuttle-type, slower and bulkier than my own Seeker model. It was standard procedure at the Academy to pair a larger shuttle with a smaller jet, and practical, too—one could carry supplies, samples, even other mechs in a pinch, while the other was for protection. I'd been waiting for a partner for some time now, impatient to get off-planet and maybe see some action. Truthfully, science was more a hobby than a passion of mine, and I would trade deep-space exploration for a battlefield any cycle, but it wasn't as though fighting was common. I had signed up with the Autobot Academy to get a taste of excitement, but this was peacetime, as it had been for astrocycles. Now all the adventure I was likely to get was flying off to parts unknown, distant corners of the cosmos where no Cybertronian had gone before. At least I had that, as a flier; groundpounders didn't even get that little bit of variety.

I was anxious about being partnered with a mech whose primary function was exploration and discovery—it sounded like a boring prospect, trapped forever with a boring mech with boring thoughts and a boring job. Skyfire, therefore, came as a pleasant surprise. I learned that he, too, had trained at the Academy, as evidenced by the proud red sigil above his canopy, but had found science more to his tastes. Despite my misgivings, he proved a fascinating conversationalist, eager and interested, though far more sedate and patient than I ever had been and ever would be. He never seemed in a bad mood and endured all of mine without complaint, providing understanding optics and ready audios.

What with his obliging personality and admittedly his handsome face, in hindsight it wasn't really so surprising that I took an immediate liking to him, and later an uncomfortably… personal interest in him. He was fantastically intelligent and though we were far apart in our thought patterns, I found that we complemented each other nicely. He saw things that I tended to overlook in my sometimes hasty leaps of logic, and I was able to provide insight into his various projects. Even now, as I puzzled over the latest strategy game set to me by one of my instructors, he leaned over my shoulder to point out a move that I had dismissed as worthless. I told him so and he frowned thoughtfully, shaking his head.

"The game's objective is to win the majority of sectors and eventually dispose of the opponent, correct?"

"Yes."

"And there is no time limit, is there?"

"Yes," I growled, wondering whether he was going to reach his point any cycle soon or whether he was just going to keep hovering over me like this, so close I could feel the heat of his Spark against my wings. I shivered and hoped he didn't notice. "I… prefer to end it quickly. I have no patience for drawing things out."

"I've analyzed the automatic pattern of the computer," he said. "It plays conservatively and is really rather predictable… and it expects you to play the same way, as your instructors have taught you."

"What's wrong with that?"

Skyfire smiled patiently. "If there is one thing I have noticed about you, Nova, it is that you are completely unpredictable. Do not be blinded by tactics that have worked in the past. If you allow the computer to take this sector," he said, pointing with a large finger and brushing my wing with his arm in the process, "it will leave this entire area unguarded. If you then take sector B7, the computer will be confused, so set in its programming that it will try to take A2, having expected you to move from A2 to B2."

I studied the display with narrowed optics. "But how will that help me?"

Skyfire launched into a long explanation of moves that he predicted. It was a solid strategy, one I hadn't contemplated.

"I don't have that kind of foresight," I marveled, shaking my head. "I wish I could be like you… I'm too impulsive, everyone says so."

"I like that about you," he said unexpectedly, and I swiveled in my chair to gape at him.

"What?!"

He grinned shyly. "I think it's…"

"Annoying? Frustrating? A pain in the aft?"

"…endearing," he finished, taking me by surprise yet again. For a moment I just stared, dumbstruck.

"No one's ever told me that before," I said at last.

"I like it," he pressed on, despite a pink tinge around the edges of his optics, a sign of embarrassment. "The way you're always barreling into things. You're not afraid of anything… I'm not like that at all. I could never be that bold."

"I just don't think. You're the one who's always considering the consequences, measuring your actions… you don't get in nearly as much trouble."

"But I like it when you get in trouble," he said, then winced. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way…"

I couldn't help but laugh. "That's what happens when you rush into things. Don't be like me, Skyfire. You're perfect the way you…" Slag my stupid vocalizer! "That is, I…"

"I don't want you to change," Skyfire slogged on bravely. "Even though other people might want you to. I like you the way you are. So… don't ever change."

I stared at him, feeling my core temperature rise. "I… er… I've got some things to do, so… that is…" I put the game on stand-by and stood a bit too quickly, before I said or did anything even more foolish. After a moment's hesitation, I stammered, "G-Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Skyfire echoed hollowly as I departed posthaste.