Silverbolt is a joker. :D Sorry if that's a little OOC, but I thought it was funny.

Chapter 26: Hyperjump's POV

I walked slowly down the hall, looking for a certain set of rooms. In the two days since the battle, I had been shown around the base briefly by Jazz and in-depth by Skystorm, but neither of them had thought to tell me where the Aerialbots' quarters were. Of course, neither of them knew why I wanted to see the Aerialbots, either.

"Looking for someone?"

I jumped and spun around to see Silverbolt standing behind me, wings upright and an amused grin on his face. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Yes, I'm looking for Silverbolt – uh, I mean, you."

"What can I help you with?" The Aerialbot leader chuckled. "I'll warn you ahead of time; no, I can't make you a member of the gestalt, and no, I won't put in a good word for you with Prowl. You'll have to do that yourself."

I blushed. "Uh…no, that's not what I wanted." Although what I did want probably wouldn't make Prowl any happier… "I was wondering. Technically, since Skystorm and I are fliers and we're not Seekers, would we be considered Aerialbots?"

He shrugged. "Technically, no. Casually, yes. You're Aerialbots, but not part of the gestalt. Why?"

"Well….um…" How do I put this without embarrassing myself more than I already have? "Do you…uh…well, there weren't many femmes in the Decepticon ranks, and, um…I never…" I stopped, blushing furiously, because Silverbolt was laughing.

"Let me guess. You want to ask Skystorm to be your girlfriend, and you don't know how."

I stared at the wall. "You know what, forget I asked…"

"No, I can help you with that." Silverbolt stifled his laughter, although he was still grinning. "You could just ask her, but from your first question it sounds like you want to do this like an Aerialbot."

"…Yeah…" I wondered if it was possible to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

Silverbolt cheerfully patted my shoulder. "Okay, kiddo! Then let me explain. I suggest you do the asking when Prowl's not around. Mostly because he's going to find out anyway, and asking his daughter out in front of him is a way to make sure he whacks you upside the head. So find a time when it's just you and her. Okay?"

I realized it was possible to blush even more. "Right…"

"Then, you try not to trip over your own voice like you're doing right now."

That's it. I'm going to die of humiliation right here.

"Silverbolt…" I opened one optic to see Skyfire standing behind the Aerialbot. "Stop embarrassing the kid!"

Silverbolt laughed and shrugged. "What? He's asking for it…"

"Shut it." The huge jetformer shook his head and steered me away. "Sorry, 'Jump. Silverbolt can be a little, well…he's a nice guy, but he doesn't have a problem messing with other 'bots, and you really don't need that right now. So I'll tell you. The phrase you're looking for is some variation on 'fly with me'. Basically, asking her to fly with you and just you is the flier way of asking her to date you. That help?"

"Yes…." If it was this embarrassing to ask them, how was I going to ask Skystorm? "Thanks, Skyfire."

"No problem." Skyfire smiled encouragingly. "Good luck. If it's any help, I'm pretty sure she's going to say yes."

I hope you're right…I hope she does…