After some deliberation, Arcee lowered her blaster away from 'Cliffjumper's' chassis, albeit uneasily.
"Phew! Almost lost it there," Cliffjumper chuckled somewhat. "What brings you around these parts?"
"I could ask you the same thing. All right, Cliffjumper - if that' who you really are - what's your affiliation?"
"I'm one of you guys, an Autobot. But before that, I was just another Cybertronian, like you."
"Hm."
"Didn't think we had to take sides until now."
"In war, you have no choice."
"You can say that again."
"You alone?"
"Pretty much – I'm just on a scouting mission."
"Same here." Arcee kept her blaster near her side just in case.
Cliffjumper shifted in his stance a bit, before he said,
"I know we may have gotten off on a bad start, but since we're on the same side, they say that strength is stronger in numbers-"
"Just so we're clear, I usually work alone, and it's best if it keeps working that way, for you and for me."
With a turn of her heel, Arcee started to walk away, not even looking back at the one named Cliffjumper.
Cliffjumper started to turn and walk back himself, but stepped back.
"Fine by me, but who knows? We might meet again sometime. And I didn't catch your name? What do they call you?"
The femme stopped in her tracks, shifted, not even turning around to face him.
"The name's Arcee."
"Huh. Arcee – has a nice ring to it."
"Don't get used to it."
"All right then, but until we cross paths again, rest calmly."
With that said, the two Autobots went their separate ways. They did not know that they would meet again soon after. They did not know that, by the end of the Great War, only one of them would come out alive. They did not know that there was more hidden away from their own cause than they realized.
For now, all they could do was rest calm. Whatever that meant.
END