Bumblebee was doing his rounds of patrolling outside in the Nevada landscape when he heard a beeping noise. A distress signal? He slowed to a stop and found its location right away. It was close. And Arcee was on the other side of the base by now. It would take a while for her to get to his position if he asked her to come look with him. He'll just have to investigate on his own.

Changing his form into his walker form, he took an easy stride to the close location.

Honestly, he wanted some space from the Femme. Recently a lost comrade showed up at the base of the Autobots. Someone he knew in fact; Windblade. She was a red and white bot he knew from his training years and formed a strong bond with. For the past week the two were inseparable, catching up to old times and sharing embarrassing stories with the rest of the crew. But it caused some weird vibes to arise in the Autobot group. Particularly with Arcee…

The scout couldn't explain it. Everytime the red and white flying femme entered the room, Arcee just suddenly dropped into a sour mood. Bee tried to talk to her about it, but she always brushed him off saying stuff like "I'm not bothered" or "Go on and talk to, Windblade."

It was all so very confusing. Even Raf didn't have any idea what was going on with her.

So, this trip to patrol with said temperamental femme was bound to be an awkward one. He was less than lenient to call her for backup.

Bumblebee followed the signal to a space behind large rocks that could hide anyone for an ambush. Bee approached with caution.

As soon as he stepped into the clearing behind the rocks however, he was greeted with a frantic face and claws extending to grab him lightning fast! They didn't harm him however. Instead, they grabbed him to yank him behind the rocks to hide and only gripped onto him tightly. The shock was enough to make him stumble forward and lose balance but the holder wouldn't loosen their hold. But that wasn't the strangest thing about this.

It was Starscream.

"Bumblebee! Oh, thank the stars! Just the bot I wanted to see!" he said, the words spilling out of his mouth quickly.

Bumblebee went on alert, about to pull up his guns, but Starscream was quick to stop him with his pleading."Oh no, no, no! Please! Hear me out." he begged.

The scout eyed him and still raised his arm guns to the Decepticon. He bleeped out some words, "What do you want, Starscream?"

"I need your help!"

That was odd. Not new, but definitely odd.

"Help you with what?" he asked suspiciously.

"You brought in that new Autobot to your base, did you not?" the frantic jet plane bot rambled out.

Now Bee was confused but concerned. What would he want with his old friend? But he nodded all the same.

"I think...I think I'm in love!"

The world stopped. The air stood still. And it felt like Unicron himself appeared to tell him that he was going to become a circus monkey and tap danced away. Bumblebee was speechless. Well, more so than usual.

"I beg your pardon?" Bee asked in slow bleeps.

"I know it sounds baffling. Me? Falling in love with someone? Let alone an AUTOBOT? Let alone an autobot that I just met?" Starscream rambled, All he said made complete sense and Bumblebee only grew more confused. "Well, I assure you, it's not without reason. For you see young bot, it all started with a strange dream I had when all rulers of Cybertron are gone and I was going to run for its new king!"

Bumblee tuned him out, deciding he needed backup. This was an emergency no bot alive can handle alone. "Arcee? Arcee, do you copy?"

"What?" came the snippy tone through the comlinks.

"I may be in a situation I can't handle alone…" Bumblebee tried to say without sounding intimidated by her tone.

"Oh really? That's surprising. You barely were alone this week." she replied, still snippy.

"Arcee, I'm with Starscream." Bee said in as serious tone he can convey through the coms.

"...Alright. I'm coming, You sound fine though. What's going on? Are you spying on him?" Arcee finally dropped her strange attitude to get back into business. The scout was relieved. If anything could snap Arcee out of anything, it was the prospect of beating Decepticons.

"No. He's talking to me right now."

"What? He's not messing with you is he?"

"No."

"Is he trying to recruit you?"

"No."

"Then what is he talking about?"

"Well that's where I need your help. See, he's telling me he's in love-"

Bumblebee could have sworn he heard the screech of wheels on the other end along with a strangled "WHA-" before the line was cut off. Bumblebee stood there contemplating just booking it, before turning back to Starscream who was still babbling oddly enough. He didn't seem to notice Bee took a break.

"-And then I actually CHEERED for her being crowned king of Cybertron. ME! I allowed her to take MY position! I was actually happy for her. Now tell me, what sort of nonsense is that?" the Con asked. Bee could only stare and Starscream dropped to his knees at the scout. "Please help me, Bumblebee! I know we've had our differences, but please offer kindness on one so love-struck?I just need to know...what is she like? She holds so many mysteries that I need to uncover. Like what is her name?"

Bumblebee looked around, almost expecting someone to jump out and yell "Surprise!" to end this joke. But none came. Starscream just finally lost his mind.

"Uh...her name is Windblade." he said at last.

"WINDBLADE, I might have known! Such a melodious sound." he sang. Bumblebee was starting to feel worried for this Con now.

"Uh, Starscream? Are you sick?"

"Sickly in LOVE!" Starscream sang and approached Bumblebee. "Tell me more."

Bumblebee backed up, just in time to see two wheels appear from behind and slam right into Starscream's face and send him sprawling on the ground. Arcee transformed right away and pressed a gun to his neck.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM, YOU SICKO!" Arcee bellowed at the Con that saw stars dance in his eyes. "Bumblebee? Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?"

Bumblebee shook his head, stepping over. "He wasn't hurting me. He was just talking to me."

"I don't care if he was holding flowers and a bubble gun. This nutjob is NOT going near you! Little fragging freak, saying he is in love with you- what sort of scrap is that?!" she raged, pressing her gun down on the mech who whined in protest.

The yellow bot stood there blinking in surprise before waving his hands frantically at Arcee. "No! No, no, no, Arcee! It's not like that! He wasn't saying he loved me. He was saying he loved Windblade back at the base."

Arcee only got angrier it seemed and she stamped on Starscream's face. "WHY? Oh my Sparticus, does everyone have to fall for that-" she started to ramble before stepping off the mech altogether and stormed away for a second. "Okay, fine. That's his problem. Why are you still here talking to him?"

"He seems actually confused. I feel bad leaving him here. And he wants advice. Maybe you can…" Bumblebee tried to explain weakly.

"Advice for what?" Arcee seethed quietly.

"How do you court an Autobot?" Starscream suddenly appeared between them, staring at the blue femme with the same desperate gaze. Arcee cried out in surprise and then backed away from the delusional Con. "Please, small Autobot femme. I must know. What must I do to get her affections?"

Arcee stared wide eyed at the mech like he grew flowers on his chest. She turned to Bee with a "Are you serious" expression while Bee shrugged helplessly.

"This is on levels of weird I can't even dream of." Arcee shook her head slowly.

"Please!"

"Alright, alright! Geez! Calm your servos." Arcee said waving at the mech. She rubbed at the place between her optics, breathing in deeply. "Okay, um...what do you want to know?"

"How would I gain the attention of the Windblade?" Starscream asked without hesitation.

"Heh, how about you ask Bumblebee here?" she asked eying the bot who jumped slightly.

"Me? How would I know?" he asked genuinely confused.

Arcee rolled her eyes. "Ugh, forget it."

Now this was just starting to hurt Bumblebee's feelings. These mixed signals were not nice or fun.

"I ask you because you are a femme," Starscream continued, ignoring the obvious love triangle mess. "What of you? How would you want a mech to court you for your affections?"

At this, Arcee blushed blue in the faceplates, optics snapping to Bee who looked just as shocked but was also looking at her curiously for her answer. She snapped them away, frowning to hide any embarrassed emotion boiling up in her gut. The Decepticon was not a fool. He knew exactly what he saw. And for that, he grinned.

"Or...a better question is how would you want a mech YOU fancy to court you?" he asked snively. Arcee sent him a glare to try and shut him up. And after a staring contest, the blue Autobot yielded.

"If you must know…" she started, pausing to gather her nerve. Bumblebee found himself holding his breath and Starscream impatiently urged her to hurry up.. "He wouldn't have to try too hard. Bots who try too hard look pathetic. And...he wouldn't have to anyway. He is already sweet and brave and cunning...if the one I am thinking about should ever think to court me...I wouldn't mind if he asked to take me out for a drive. Nothing special. Just a drive. Me and him. Just to know he was thinking of me and wanted to spend time with me."

The space between Bee and Arcee felt much shorter then. Perhaps it's because Bumblebee actually stepped closer to listen to Arcee, but somehow he felt a stirring in him. His insides fluttered at her words and Bumblebee didn't know why he was growing so excited.

Was that all it took?

"Well, as great as that may sound, how does that help me? I can't drive. Neither can she. She flies. Like me." Starscream said with an almost smug air to him and breaking the silence between the two Autobots.

"Then take a flight around the desert." Arcee said, glaring at the bot.

"True. Alright then, what else?"

Arcee groaned, rubbing her neck. "Uh, tell her she's a great fighter."

"Never saw her fight."

"I was talking about what I would want still."

"Still not helping me."

"Then tell her she's pretty!" Arcee snapped angrily.

"Cliche, but it might just work." Starscream went on. "What else?" he nearly bounced on his heels.

"Primus, did you drink something before coming here?" Arcee said with a concerned tone.

"I think I crashed actually before sending out a distress signal so I'm a little out of sorts." Starscream answered truthfully.

"How about…" Bumblebee spoke up gaining their attention. "Tell her she's...smart. And Brilliant."

"Oh, very good!" Starscream said as Arcee blinked in surprise at Bumblebee.

"And that no other bot could compare to her. Because none can hold your attention like she does." Bumblebee continued, his eyes drifting from Starscream to Arcee. She blushed under his stare, her insides fluttering at his words. "And that you'd like to take many drives to many places in the future."

The silence that stretched between the two went on. Autobot and Autobot kept on staring into each other's optics until-

"Ugh, you two are like two twiddle birds throwing love stones. You're not help at all. I'll just catch her when she flies and demand she follow me. So ta-ta to you both and try not to...as they say, "get nasty" out here when I'm gone." Starscream said with a wicked grin. With that said, he transformed and flew off into the skies, leaving a blushing duo behind.

They stood there in the embarrassed wake of the Decepticon for some time before Arcee spoke up first.

"Let's never speak of this again. That was just too weird."

"Agreed." Bumblebee nodded, more than happy to erase the evening from his mind. As Arcee was about to transform, Bee grabbed her arm. "Uh, Arcee? How about we just...take a walk back this time?" he offered, smiling shyly at her.

Surprised, Arcee agreed. She smiled up at the mech as her hands slipped into his own and the two quietly walked back to base. They took their time as dawn rose and the two saw Windblade was the first to take a small voyage into the world, flying off the top of the base. Arcee and Bumblebee had to watch in strange fascination when Starscream appeared beside Windblade and guided her to a rock formation a ways away. Probably to talk.

Even from where they stood, they could see Windblade slap Starscream clear across the face. Perhaps their advice didn't go that well afterall.