I don't own transformers. Too bad. Thanks for the detailed explanation about Sam's location! You guys are just so darn helpful :) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you make me wanna do this right :) xoxox

Ping, pong, ping, pong, ping-

"It's not fair!" complained Hot Rod as the little white ball zipped past his paddle. "I'm a lot bigger than you, so I can barely see the ball."

Hot Rod and I were playing ping-pong in the vast community rec room deep in Autobot city. There were several human sized games, like pool, foosball, and ping-pong, as well as larger unfamiliar Autobot games towards to back of the huge hall. Bumblebee, Sam, and Mirage were crowded around a big screen, watching a wrestling match.

"Whatever, Hot Rod. I'm using my left hand, so we're even."

"What does that have to do with it? Left is just as good as right."

"Not for most people. Our brains kind of wire for one hand or the other. Usually it's right, but sometimes left. It just means we're better at using one side than the other for certain things, and I happen to be right handed."

"Oh. Still, at least the ball's the right size for you," he said sulkily.

Mirage perked up from his blank stare at the TV. "You think it's that big of a deal, Rod?"

Hot Rod grumbled under his breath.

Mirage laughed. "Yeah, it is just a game, but I bet I could show you how it's done."

"I'm not playing ping-pong with you."

Mirage shrugged. "I'll play with Bravura. May I?"

Hot Rod looked at me expressionlessly, and I got the impression that what I said to Mirage was going to be a big deal to him. I couldn't just say no to Mirage, though, it would be rude.

"Um, sure…?"

Hot Rod lurched up from his crouch at the ping-pong table and stalked to the TV. As he and Mirage passed, Hot Rod hissed something Cybertronian to Mirage, and Mirage snapped something back.

Bumblebee looked back. "Cool it, you two. It's just a game."

Hot Rod shrugged violently and sat down on the floor by Bee. I couldn't see Sam; He was perched on Bee's lap somewhere.

Mirage knelt down by the ping-pong table and picked up a paddle, smiling winningly. "Just hit the ball back to you, right?"

"Right. If you miss, I get a point, and vice versa."

"Got it. Ladies first!"

I served the little white ball across the table and Mirage hit it back. We exchanged it for a few turns, when suddenly he faked me out; His movements were so big, they were easy to predict, but the ball sailed left instead of right and he got a point.

He looked over his shoulder as I went to retrieve it. "I don't get what your problem is, Rod. It's not hard or anything. It's nothing compared to hunting turbo-foxes."

"Not all of us waste our time on helpless little animals, Mirage."

"You guys!" yelled Bee, who sounded a little frustrated.

Mirage looked at me and winked. "Ready to go again?"

I served again, and this time I got a feeling of accomplishment as the ball missed his paddle by centimeters.

I smiled at Hot Rod, who gave me a thumbs-up before turning back to the TV.

Mirage held up his hands. "Can't win 'em all! Best two out of three?"

I grinned, more confident now. "Sure, one more time."

In less than a minute, I watched the ball rolling behind me, and Mirage was looking satisfied with himself.

I fetched the ball and left it on the table. "Good game."

Mirage nodded, and I went over to Hot Rod. Mirage followed me.

They had changed the channel to a daytime soap, much to Sam's protests. Hot Rod seemed interested enough and Bee was quickly explaining the multiple plotlines. I inspected Rod's lap, trying to figure out how to climb up with one arm, when he looked down at me. "Need a lift?"

"I wouldn't mind."

He gently picked me up and set me on the leg closest to Bee as Mirage settled down on his other side. I leaned back against his body, still surprised at his warmth, and tried to get into the catfight on the TV screen.

Watching one of them accuse the other of shadiness in the past reminded me that I'd never gotten the chance to ask Optimus about Frenzy. Bee had mentioned that he planned on debriefing everyone later, but I would need to talk to him in private. If I was right, Frenzy was not at all who he seemed.

When the episode was over and I was hopelessly confused, Mirage got up. "I hate to miss out on the next gripping television show, but I need to go ask Optimus some things. Thank you for the game, Bravura."

I steeled myself against Hot Rod's jealously and slid off his lap, waving to Mirage.

"Wait," I said abruptly. "I need to talk to him too. Can I hitch a ride?" True to my prediction, Hot Rod made a strangled noise.

"But- I can take you, Bravura."

Mirage was looking smug as he said, "It's perfectly fine, Hot Rod. I'm heading to the same place. Stay and watch your femme TV."

I could see Hot Rod's fists clenching. "Fine. Go with Mirage." He said the name as if it were an insult.

I watched him uncertainly for a moment, but walked to Mirage, who picked me up and set me on the shoulder not crowded by his giant gun. We left the rec room and started down the winding halls.

"What do you see in that upstart?" Mirage asked suddenly.

I rolled my eyes. Everyone seemed to think Hot Rod and I were something more than I was willing to admit. "He's my friend."

"Are you sure that's all? He seems to have other ideas on the subject."

I looked at the side of Mirage's face sharply. "What did he say?"

He laughed and looked sidelong at me. "Nothing, he didn't say a word. It's the way he acts about you. Don't you see it?"

I looked down at the floor, twenty feet below. "Well… Sort of, I guess. I just thought he wanted to protect me."

"Fair enough, but you might want to see if there's something more to it. He can be pretty hot headed. How do you think he got his name?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I've already seen a little of that side of him."

Mirage nodded. "He's a pretty competitive kid, too. I know he thinks I'm trying to, I don't know, steal you. That's just the way he is."

"But you aren't, right?"

"I appeal to females, I can't help it."

I smiled at his playful confidence and leaned back on my hands, trying to make heads or tails of the halls.

Finally he stopped in front of a large door, exactly the same as all the others. There was a glowing green keypad, which he pressed and spoke into. "Mirage and Bravura requesting private audiences with Optimus Prime."

A hollow voice responded, saying, "Acknowledged. Please wait."

We didn't wait long. The door slipped open and there towered Optimus. He looked at us both, everything about him fatherly and accepting. "Please come in," he said, moving back and gesturing us in.

Mirage set me down. "You go ahead, I'll wait until you're done."

I smiled and waved at Mirage, then walked into Optimus's… office?

There was in fact a huge desk set in the middle, towards the back. There were a pair of huge chairs arranged in front of, it and a metal ladder allowing a human to climb up the back of one of them. I couldn't exactly scale the ladder, however, and this must have occurred to Optimus, because he offered me a lift and set me on the thin platform on the back of the chair.

He sat in the other chair in front of the desk and looked at me expectantly. "Is there something you need, Bravura?"

I looked at him a little shyly. "Uh, Sort of. I was wanting to ask you… about Frenzy."

He watched me passively. "What would you like to know?"

"He… He didn't seem like the other Decepticons that I met. His eyes were blue, like yours, and sometimes he acted more like he cared than Barricade or Skywarp. Something wasn't right about him."

"You have suspicions about his origins?"

"Well, yes."

Optimus considered me, and the topic, for a long moment, and then finally said, somewhat sadly, "You're right."

I jerked my eyes from my shoes back up to his face. "I am?"

"Yes. Frenzy was an Autobot, once."

"Why… why would he betray you?"

Optimus shook his head. "Frenzy didn't betray us of his own free will. He was lost in the war, when Megatron employed a machine that… changed him. Frenzy was once a powerful Autobot warrior, very large and formidable. Megatron's weapon took away much of his sanity, turned him into a berserker. He's broken down in battle, his parts scrapped one piece at a time, so many times that he was finally reduced to the size he is now. It's been a painful progression for us all."

"But… why don't you invent something to reverse it?"

"We tried, many times. It's simply out of our power."

"But don't you think there's still a chance that you could get him back?"

He gave me a patient look, and my frustration was tempered. "We tried for nearly three hundred Earth years to find a cure for Frenzy. We failed, and I will always be haunted by that failure. The best we can do now is to protect what we still have."

I sighed and crossed my arms. "I guess you're right… It's just… I saw the spark of something in him. He acted guilty about my parents, Optimus. Like there was some other part of him coming out."

"There may be hope for Frenzy, but it isn't our immediate goal. As I said, we must preserve what we have. Have I told you what you needed to know?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Optimus."

"You're welcome. I have to ask you, however, to refrain from discussing Frenzy with the others, especially Bumblebee and Hot Rod. They don't know the whole story, and it would make things more complicated than they already are."

I put my hand over my heart and looked up at his blue eyes, nodding, I turned to go.

"And Bravura?"

I turned back. "Yes, Optimus?"

"You should consider speaking to Ratchet about removing the Decepticon tattoo."

"Oh… right." I looked down at the purple and black image on my wrist. "I'd forgotten about it. I'll talk to him."

Optimus nodded. "Please tell Mirage to come in on your way out."

"Sure. Thanks again."

"Any time."

I walked out, the door sliding partially shut behind me. Mirage was waiting.

"All finished?"

"Yeah, I think so. He said to come on in."

He winked at me, a quirk I was growing accustomed to, and went into Optimus's office.

I was at a loss. Go wandering and get lost until someone came to find me, or wait for Mirage?

I didn't have time to choose. Optimus burst out of his office, closely followed by Mirage. They were speaking rapidly in Cybertronian, and they looked serious. Optimus looked somewhat pertubed, and Mirage seemed to be defending himself. Mirage paused to pick me up as they rushed down the hall, their conversation barely halting. Optimus was doing most of the talking in short order, Mirage asking what sounded like questions every now and then.

I had no idea what was going on and the two seemed pretty absorbed with their talk, so I simply latched onto Mirage and waited for them to get where they were going.

We were quickly standing at the gate to Autobot City. Mirage set me down and crouched to speak to me, his expression serious. "Bravura, Ironhide just reported a Decepticon signal landing in the northwest of the country. Optimus and I are going to meet him to check it out." There was a tension in his voice that told me there was more, but I couldn't guess what.

Then my jaw dropped. Another Decepticon? "You're leaving?"

"We're only gathering information. It shouldn't take long," Optimus said soothingly. "Will you set the locking system once we're out?"

"Uh, sure… But…"

"See you soon, sweetheart!" Mirage gave me a little salute, and then both he and Optimus were a pair of vehicles peeling out of the Gate. I went to the silver box built into the wall and opened it, then pressed the red button labeled Auto-Lock. When I shut the box again, Hot Rod was standing at the end of the hall, looking breathless.

He rushed down the hall, sliding down to a crouch when he came to me. "I thought he took you with him," he whispered.

I patted his wrist. "Nope, they just wanted me to lock the door. They're checking out a new Decepticon signal."

Hot Rod's expression darkened and he flipped his hand over for me to climb into. Shortly we were walking down the hall together, our minds running in completely different directions.

Edited March 19th, 2010