DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Transformers. They came over from Hasbro to pester me. Boy, are they regretting that now. *evil cackle*
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'd apologize for the time between updates, but that's silly. It is going to happen again, though hopefully not as long. Real life is a tyrant.
Thanks again to my beta reader and BFF Okami-chan.
Chapter Four
"Fragging creation of a malfunctioning trash compactor and a half-clocked glitching calculator!"
Prowl startled awake. What the frag was going on?
Shaking his head to clear it (why did he continue doing that, he knew it didn't work!), he tried to get up. A hard weight across his legs prevented him.
"He better hope I never get my hands on him! I'll strip out his circuits and feed them to him one by one!"
"Sideswipe, first off – calm down, you are scaring Dee. Second, that's impossible, humans don't have circuits. Last, you already punched him."
Prowl glanced down at his legs. Jazz lay sprawled across them, sound asleep.
"Let me go!"
"Not until you calm down. You already punched him and staked your claim, Sides. You don't need to prove your point again."
Prowl sighed. He didn't really want to get up and definitely didn't want to disturb Jazz but this sounded like it needed both of them to mediate. After a moment's consideration, Prowl simply got up, dumping Jazz on the floor.
"Oof! Ow! Huh? What the frag?" Jazz lay where he landed, blinking up at Prowl.
"If you don't let me go right now Sunstreaker, I'm going to…"
"You're going to keep complaining at full volume? I'm shaking, Sides. From laughter. Now shut up, calm down or we'll be here all day."
Jazz glanced in the direction of the yelling and then turned an amused smirk back to Prowl. "Oh. That's the frag. Who'd have thought Sunstreaker would be the voice of reason?" Jazz extended a hand and Prowl helped him up.
"I find Sunstreaker to be the voice of reason quite often. He is, amazing as this might sound, the less volatile of the twins," Prowl replied as they started walking slowly towards the commotion. Fortunately, they didn't have far to go; slow was their current top speed.
The scene before them was laid out much as Prowl expected. Sunstreaker had Sideswipe in an unbreakable hold, Bluestreak protectively held a quietly sobbing Dee and Hound stood between them trying to reason with the dark twin. CeeCee-37's quiet presence surprised him.
Jazz staggered over to a convenient crate and eased himself onto it. Prowl moved to a spot opposite Jazz, close to CeeCee-37, where he could lean against the wall. It served two purposes; leaning made him look annoyed and bored with the chaos before him. It gave him the psychological edge in potentially explosive situations, never failing to make the mechs he dealt with feel like naughty children caught with their hands in the cookie jar (he must thank Jazz for that metaphor sometime). It also braced him up, lest he fall over from the lingering dizziness.
Hound walked over to Prowl. "Sorry we woke you." He rubbed his face, a gesture of frustration Prowl recognized from Sparkplug. "Sideswipe and Bluestreak went to pick up Dee from her lessons and found Alpha hitting on her. Which would have been bad enough but Dee was terrified by him. Sideswipe lost it and punched Alpha. Bluestreak pulled him off and managed to drag him back here where Sunstreaker took over. CeeCee brought Dee back with them. We're trying to calm both Sideswipe and Dee down but not having much luck."
"I see." Prowl looked at Bluestreak, who nodded, confirming Hound's report, then at CeeCee-37, who merely shrugged. She didn't appear to be upset, thankfully, just concerned. "Sunstreaker, release Sideswipe. Sideswipe, report."
Sideswipe pulled himself out of Sunstreaker's grip and shot a baleful look at his twin. He briefly rubbed and stretched the arm that Sunstreaker had immobilized as he walked over and stood at attention before Prowl. "Not much else to report. Hound said it all. Just don't expect me to apologize to that fragger. Nobody hurts Dee and gets away with it." Sideswipe's pale skin had taken on a reddish hue reminiscent of his original plating and his eyes flashed much the way they had in their original forms. There wasn't much point in reasoning with Sideswipe like this, any attempt would just keep him furious.
Fortunately, Prowl had eons of dealing with Sideswipe's temper. He nodded benignly. "Good job. Dee needs a strong protector and I'm gratified to see you are rising to the challenge. Just clarify one thing for me, please."
Sideswipe blinked, surprise crossing his handsome features. He took a quick furtive glance at CeeCee-37, who just stood silently with her normal secretive yet amused smile. She suddenly reminded Prowl of the famous portrait Mona Lisa. It took an effort of will for him to focus back on the angry and now confused solider in front of him. At least Sideswipe didn't notice his lapse as he tried to puzzle out what exactly Prowl was doing.
"Okay, sure. What do you need clarified Prowl?" Sideswipe had visibly calmed, though his eyes still flashed with emotion. Prowl knew from experience it wouldn't take much to set him off again, but that was fine. The trick wasn't to try to calm Sideswipe down, but to derail his tirade and redirect him.
"You are Dee's protector. Who protects her from you?"
Sideswipe recoiled as if Prowl had slapped him. He flushed, rage flaring up again. "What? What did you say? I'd never hurt Dee!"
"Then look at her Sideswipe. Right now, it's you that's she's afraid of. She's frightened that you are angry with her as well." Prowl replied softly, with a gesture at Dee, still in Bluestreak's arms. The girl looked as if she was trying to hide in his embrace, face buried into his chest.
Colour drained from Sideswipe's face as he focused on his frightened charge. Prowl could almost hear the synapses snapping as Sideswipe put the pieces together. "Oh Dee, I'm sorry! I'm not mad at you; it's not your fault. I didn't mean to scare you." He took a couple halting steps towards her.
Dee peeked out over Bluestreak's arm at the contrite warrior. She relaxed her grip enough to look up into Bluestreak's face. When he nodded at her, she released him and turned to Sideswipe, who gave her a rueful, embarrassed smile and held out his arms. Dee rushed into them, hugging Sideswipe as tightly as she had Bluestreak. Sideswipe cradled her just as tightly.
"You're good," CeeCee-37 whispered, so not to disturb the reconciling pair.
"Thank you. I have a lot of experience in handling Sideswipe's moods," Prowl whispered back. Her nearness awakened the strangest contradictory feelings in him. He felt calmed and comforted yet excited and they were only standing together. It had been a long time since he had felt that way. He shook his head at his own foolishness.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
He looked over at her. "CeeCee, do you even know what a penny is?"
"It's something you say to ask someone to tell you what's on their mind."
He chuckled. "That's what I thought." It would be too complicated to explain right now.
"Well, pennies and thoughts aside, you need to sit down. We need to talk about Dee and Alpha and Sideswipe." CeeCee-37 took his arm and guided him over to the crate Jazz was sitting on. "You need to be sleeping Lord Jazz."
"I was but Prowl took away my pillow and dumped me on the floor." Jazz protested. "You got something against me sleeping, mech?"
"You were sleeping on my legs and I needed to deal with Sideswipe." Prowl rolled his eyes. Just what else he needed, Jazz in full drama mode.
"The excitement is now over, back to bed. Lord Sunstreaker, help Lord Jazz back to his blanket." CeeCee-37 imperiously waved the fair warrior over, then waggled a finger at the saboteur. "Don't think I didn't see you limping in here."
Sunstreaker shook his head as he helped Jazz up. "She orders us around, yet still calls us Lord. I'm never going to understand humans, especially the femmes. Let's go your Lordship."
"Aw thanks Lord Sunny. You going to tuck me in too?"
"Certainly. I'll wrap you up in your blanket real tight." Sunstreaker smirked as they slowly walked out, Jazz laughing.
Prowl sat on the crate Jazz had just vacated. CeeCee-37 turned and summoned Bluestreak and Hound over with a gesture. "My Lords, go fetch Venom and Alpha. They need to be here for the discussion I'm going to have with Lord Prowl." She waved them off on their way and turned back to Prowl with a flourish.
He couldn't help laughing. "And here I thought we'd be too dominating an influence on your people. My mistake."
"Am I being to forward, my Lord?"
"Oh no, you just remind us more than a little bit about another of the Autobot officers." Prowl smiled and scooted over a bit, making room for CeeCee to sit next to him. She did and leaned against him, sliding deftly under his arm. "It is a great relief that we are on a more or less even footing in our relations."
"Yes, it is. And our relations are what we need to discuss." She gestured towards where Sideswipe and Dee were now sitting. Sideswipe whispered something to Dee, making her giggle and smile. "I'm not upset about Alpha; he overstepped himself and got what he deserved. I just don't want to happen again. The poor child was so frightened of Alpha, for no reason. All she had to do is tell him to stop and he would have. He should have noted her fear and stopped himself. Sideswipe is not at fault here. Truly no one is."
"That is gratifying to know but I thought we were waiting for Alpha and Venom?" Prowl asked. He felt a little like Sideswipe did earlier, completely confused about where CeeCee was taking this. There was a surprise in his near future, he knew that at least.
"They don't need to be here for us to talk. Alpha is coming to apologize and Venom is coming for Alpha to be brave enough to come." CeeCee smirked, blue eyes dancing.
"All right. I'll confess I don't know what you are getting at," Prowl sighed.
"Dee is in need of a protector, a role which Lord Sideswipe has gladly assumed. But as shown today, he can't be with her all the time to defend her."
"Yes."
"So what is needed is some sign that she is under his protection. That will keep all but the most serious threats away and Lord Sideswipe is free to deal with those anyway he deems fit."
"I'm assuming that the more serious threats you refer to would be outside the Tunnel Rats?"
"Yes of course. Our clan would respect the sign."
"That sounds like the best course of action. What is used for the sign?"
"I'll need some hair from both of them."
"Hair?"
"Yes. I'll need it for the ceremony."
"Ceremony?"
"Yes of course. How else would we make it official? Come, let us prepare them."
OoOoOoOoOoO
From the hand of Prowl, Lieutenant Commander, 2IC of the Autobots, Chief Tactician
Date Unknown
I am Lt Cmdr Prowl of the Autobots, second to Optimus Prime and if recovered, I would ask that this journal be sent directly to him.
Prime,
To say that today was bizarre and interesting doesn't really come close to describing it. I am becoming accustomed to the insanity of these Mazes; the oddest thing about today is I didn't really find anything odd about the proceedings.
It started with Sideswipe defending the honour of our ward from one the Tunnel Rats leaders. He punched and knocked the clone known as Alpha unconscious. Fortunately, CeeCee-37 and the other leader, Venom, weren't upset with Sideswipe over the incident. They are of the opinion that Alpha deserved what he got.Instead CeeCee-37 had a suggestion to prevent further incidents. I gave my approval for the endeavour.
We collected samples of hair from both Sideswipe and Dee and braided them into bracelets. I must confess to extreme amusement at Sideswipe's reaction; he was convinced I'd fried my processor until I explained it was CeeCee-37's idea. The bracelets were tied around their wrists, Sideswipe's left and Dee's right and they joined those hands. CeeCee-37 grasped their joined hands and spoke a few words and proclaimed them hand fasted for life.
Alpha and Venom arrived shortly after that and Alpha profusely apologized to Dee. Venom and Alpha congratulated Sideswipe, to his and my confusion. Further confusion entailed when the three clone leaders shooed Sideswipe and Dee to the private area. Sunstreaker and I pulled them out of there later, both sound asleep.
As baffling as this day was, it seems to have cemented our relations with the Tunnel Rat clan. We are considered part of the clan, rather than allies or something to be wary of. It is an undeniable relief to know we have friends that we can depend on in this place. That if something horrible happened, the survivors would not be alone.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Alpha gingerly touched his chin. "Ow. Bastard has a mean swing on him." He glowered at his chuckling companion.
"Suck it up. Everything is going perfectly." Venom lay back on his blankets, smirking at Alpha.
"Easy for you to say, you didn't have to bait the Lord of Destruction. Why did I have to do it again?"
"Because CeeCee and I are too involved with the Lords. It wouldn't have worked with us."
"Where is she anyways?"
"Probably heating up the blankets with Lord Prowl."
"Hmph. She gets laid and I get laid out. Completely unfair."
"Shut it and go to sleep."
"Fine. But you know what the worst part was? Seeing the fear in the child's face and having to keep pushing to provoke the Lord of Destruction. I hated that."
Venom reached over and clasped his friends shoulder. "You played your part and didn't hurt her. That's what is important. Remember it."
OoOoOoOoOoO
Bluestreak rolled over and stared at the ceiling. As tired as he was, he just couldn't get to sleep. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked around at his companions. They were all fast asleep. "Frag," he cursed softly. He got up and carefully made his way to the showers. A warm shower might relax him enough to finally sleep.
It was a great idea, right up until he got to the doorway and found the shower room occupied. Occupied with people who were… occupied. Bluestreak did a rapid about face and nearly ran into another late night shower taker. He stumbled and would have fallen if the person in front of him hadn't caught and steadied him.
"Thanks, that was really clumsy of me. I'm not usually clumsy but I'm kinda tired and wanted a shower to relax but the stalls are kind of busy so I turned a little fast and didn't expect to see you there and I'm glad you caught me since falling at any time really sucks, so thanks again, I really appreciate it since I didn't want to disturb, well anyone since it's late and most people are asleep except me and you, of course and the people occupied in the shower but I don't think we disturbed them 'cause they are really occupied and…" Bluestreak trailed off when he realized who he was rambling to. "You're Alpha."
"I'm sorry, I only caught about the last two words you said. Yes, I'm Alpha," The dark-haired clone tilted his head, confused. Bluestreak couldn't help but stare at the large purple bruise on his chin; it was level with his eyes. "You are Lord Bluestreak."
Alpha released Bluestreak and stepped back. An awkward silence filled the room for a long moment. Alpha glanced around the hallway, not meeting Bluestreak's eyes. "It's a little late for a shower Lord. The rest of the Lords are asleep."
"Please, please don't call me Lord. We aren't Lords or anything god-like. My real rank translates closely to Sniper Class 1A, but it's never spoken out loud. Just woven into the under and overtones in our language. Can't even pronounce it correctly as a human," Bluestreak sighed, tiredly. "I can't sleep, so I thought a warm shower would relax me enough to fix that. Aren't you up late as well?"
"If you don't want me to call you Lord, can I call you just Bluestreak?" Alpha asked. At Bluestreak's relieved nod, he continued. "Bluestreak, I'm up because I have a horrible headache and can't sleep. Lord… uhm… Sideswipe has a wicked punch." He rubbed his face ruefully. "The worst thing is I think he pulled the punch."
Bluestreak shrugged. "I don't know. He was pretty fragged off, so I doubt it."
"I would rather he hadn't. I did rather deserve it and well, I guess it's a weird pride thing. CeeCee would tell me I'm an idiot." Alpha shrugged.
Bluestreak nodded and was about to reply when a loud, pleasured squeal came from the shower room.
Alpha looked over Bluestreak's shoulder, frowning. "Is that why you turned so abruptly?"
"Well, they were kinda occupied and I didn't really want to disturb them so I turned to leave but I ran into you instead and well…" Bluestreak trailed off when Alpha held up a hand and moved past him. Bluestreak turned and watched him. He was curious and mystified at what the clone leader was doing. He peeked into the shower room just in time to see Alpha turn the water on full. The entwined bodies on the floor started to squeal and curse, tripping over each other to get out from under the spray.
"You have all been warned about this. Back to your blankets, I'll be seeing each of you tomorrow." Alpha chased half a dozen naked, wet and shivering clones out of the showers. Bluestreak got out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled.
"And that takes care of that," Alpha grinned at Bluestreak from the doorway. "Still up for a shower?"
Bluestreak walked towards the shower door. "I don't believe you just did that. You didn't have to, I don't need a shower that badly."
"I do and I'd rather do it without the moaning and groaning. Come on, I'll wash your back, if you wash mine." Alpha started slowly slipping out of his clothes, wincing every now and then. His long dark hair fell forward as he awkwardly bent to remove his pants exposing the dark bruises covering the coffee cream skin on his shoulders.
"What happened to you? Sides only hit you once!" Bluestreak gasped.
"As Venom explained it to me when I woke up, there were three hits; Sideswipe hitting me, me hitting the wall, then me hitting the floor. All rather hard, as you can see," Alpha paused to look at Bluestreak. "It's just bruising, I'll live."
"But…"
"I'll be better after a hot shower. Trust me, this wasn't the first fight I got in," he smiled at Bluestreak. "But thanks. Now get undressed. I would really like someone to wash my back."
Bluestreak stepped over and helped Alpha out of his clothes, before removing his own and joining the clone man under the spray. Alpha handed him a bar of soap. "CeeCee wasn't kidding when she said you were all put together very nicely."
Bluestreak started so badly he nearly dropped the soap. He fumbled with the slippery object a few seconds before Alpha grabbed his wrists, letting the bar drop to the floor.
Alpha sighed. "My mentor always told me that I spoke without engaging my brain. That wasn't a come on, just an observation. Calm down, please."
Bluestreak took a deep breath and struggled to calm himself. What was wrong with him? He'd been captured and tortured by the Decepticons numerous times (though this time was the worst yet), lost his entire home city, and had been a soldier for more vorn than his age when Crystal City fell and here he was freaking out over an offhand compliment from a human clone who couldn't take him down one on one even if he wasn't injured? He pulled free from Alpha's loose grip and leaned on the shower wall, covering his face.
Get a grip, Bluestreak, he told himself fiercely.
"Bluestreak? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Was it what I said? Crap, I've really done it now. Sideswipe is going to kill me. Dammit, CEECEE is going to kill me," Alpha had come over and slid an arm over Bluestreak's shoulders.
Bluestreak blinked and looked over at the dark clone, who was now muttering curses, mostly directed at himself.
He sounds like me, he thought. This strangely grounded him and pulled him from the emotional pit he had fallen into. He placed his own hand on Alpha's shoulder, silencing the monologue. "I'm okay. I've just been at war a long time and sometimes it gets to me. Don't worry, I'll make sure Sideswipe doesn't kill you but you're on your own with CeeCee."
Alpha gave him a searching look before smiling. "If you're okay, I'm okay and CeeCee doesn't need to know anything else. Let's get back to showering." He released Bluestreak and snatched up the soap. "Now, you want me to wash your back first or do mine first?"
"I'll wash yours first."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Alpha grinned and handed him the soap again. He managed to take it without dropping it this time.
Alpha stepped under the spray, lifting his face up into the stream and slowly turning in a circle to wet himself completely. Bluestreak watched him, curiously. The clone was well put together himself. When Alpha stopped turning and braced his arms against the wall, legs slightly parted, Bluestreak stepped up behind him, lathering up the soap in his hands. "I'll wash your hair too. You probably don't want to be lifting your arms up with those bruises."
"Thanks. They don't bother me, really. Didn't even know I had them until you mentioned it. Just mainly my head and neck that hurts."
"I'll be careful." Bluestreak gently started lathering Alpha's hair. Primus but he had a lot! Not that Bluestreak could really say much on that subject; his own was getting pretty long too. Extremely annoying stuff, getting into his eyes and mouth all the time until CeeCee-37 had taken pity on him (pity? She had been laughing pretty hard) and demonstrated how to tie it back. Alpha's was really nice though, soft, thick and a rich black like Dee's. The clone man had several long braided strands around his face. Bluestreak guessed this is another way to keep it out your mouth but he wasn't really sure. Still swung around a lot.
He paused to lather up the soap again and continued washing Alpha, starting at his neck and shoulders, being extra gentle for his injuries and slowly working his way down the clone's back. He glided his hands over Alpha's buttocks and down his legs, making sure he was adequately covered in suds. "Okay, you can rinse off your back and turn around. I'll wash your front too." He paused when Alpha turned slowly away from him to step in the spray. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Alpha had his head stuck under the spray so he took a moment before answering. "I'm fine. Just peachy. It's alright, I can do my front."
Blue walked around Alpha so he could see his face. "Are you sure you are alright? If I hurt you by accident, you have to tell… oh." Bluestreak found words deserting him as he took in the blushing man's… 'condition'.
"Uhm… you have a very gentle touch." Alpha managed after a very awkward moment. "You didn't hurt me at all, even when you washed the bruises."
"I've… uh… been getting a lot of practice lately. My comrades, the Autobot ones, I mean, not the clone ones 'cause you are all comrades but my Autobot comrades have all been getting themselves slagged lately, even Sunstreaker because he's a twin and felt what Sides did when he was captured even though like me, he hasn't been taken and slagged up by Starscream. That didn't seem to matter though, he was pretty bad- mmph!" Bluestreak found his ramble cut off by Alpha's hand. The clone had stepped in close to him. So close he could feel the heat of the other's body, hear his breathing (or was that his own?), and have the dark-haired man's erection bump into his own hardening member. His head felt like it was spinning and ready to explode. And not bomb level explosion either, more like a supernova. He was shaking like an earthquake too.
"Bluestreak! Bluestreak snap out of it!" Or Alpha could be shaking him as he yelled in his ear.
He blinked, finding Alpha's worried face centimetres from his own. Alpha also held him up, the clone had a firm grip on each of his biceps.
Bluestreak shuddered and straightened up to stand on his own. "Snap out of what?"
"You faded out on me. I had to catch you or you'd have fallen to the floor. What gives?"
Bluestreak shook his head, trying to clear the fog. "I- I don't know." He noticed Alpha still gripped his arms. Probably a good thing, considering how dizzy he felt right now. Bad thing was, they were standing so close together, their penises unintentionally brushed against each other. Alpha wasn't erect anymore, which was good but the brushing felt weird and he wasn't sure…
"Blue! Don't you dare fade out again! You can't afford to do that in this place!" Alpha yelled as he shook him again.
Bluestreak snapped out of it. "What the frag?" He gripped his head, to keep it from spinning off. "I need to sit down."
Alpha guided him to one of the crates the Tunnel Rats kept in the showers for seating and storage. "What triggered it this time?"
"I don't know. I was just thinking that it was a good idea that you were still holding me up but we were standing so close, we were rubbing together and it felt weird even though you aren't hard anymore and then you were yelling again." Bluestreak rambled. He wasn't thinking about what he was saying, just letting the words flow between taking deep breaths.
"Okay, how about before that?"
"Uhm, not sure I remember… wait… You were stopping me from talking and you were hard and bumping me, not on purpose I know but that felt strange and it was even stranger that I was getting hard too and then you were shaking and yelling at me." Bluestreak closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths. At least it remained blessedly dark now instead of having lights and colours flashing behind his closed lids.
"And about before that?"
"You weren't yelling at me before that." Bluestreak opened his eyes and looked Alpha crouching next to him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that every single time I even hinted I found you attractive –stay awake, don't you dare fade out! Every single time you had some sort of reaction. Why does it bother you? Do you prefer girls?"
"What? No! I don't prefer girls." Bluestreak stood, suddenly furious at the clone. How dare he imply… "What are you even talking about? I don't prefer male or female humans at all. I don't think you are ugly or anything, I'm just not attracted to any of you! How can you be attracted to me? I don't get that! How can anyone be attracted to this…this… abomination that I'm stuck in!" Bluestreak screamed at him. "This is not how I'm supposed to be! How is that attractive or beautiful or anything but just plain WRONG!" He stood panting for breath, fists clenched, shaking on his own this time.
Alpha had fallen backwards during Bluestreak's tirade and stared up at him in utter amazement. He stood now and looked Bluestreak over again, like he was seeing him for the first time. "You know, until now, I didn't really believe it. I knew it, accepted it, just didn't believe it." He looked into Bluestreak's eyes, his own filled with awestruck wonder.
"What?" Bluestreak agreed with Sunstreaker. Humans, clone or not, made absolutely no sense!
"I didn't truly believe you were anything other than another type of clone. A little weird, yes, but still a clone. But you can't be just a clone, not if you are like this, acting this way. CeeCee and Venom are right. You truly are one of the Gods."
Bluestreak just stared at the human clone. He didn't have a clue how to respond to that. Not an inkling.
"Lord Bluestreak…"
He knew how to respond to that. "No, not Lord anything. You call me Lord and I'll give you a bruise to match the one Sideswipe gave you."
Alpha laughed, delighted and not in the least intimidated. "All right, Bluestreak. I was only going to tell you that you have my support and the support of the Tunnel Rats in any way we can help you and the others return to your natural forms. I'm sure your beauty in this one is only a reflection of your true selves." He approached Bluestreak, still looking into his eyes and placed both hands on Bluestreak's shoulders (taking care nothing unfortunate brushed together). "I only ask you not forget about us when you finally return home."
"I don't think we'll ever be able to forget about any of you." Bluestreak promised, sincerely. No chance in the Pit of that ever happening.
"Terrific. Now come on. It's your turn for a shower.
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A/N: I have to admit, I'm having a lot of fun with Bluestreak.