THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE…

It was afternoon. Everybody except Lugnut had been able to drag their hung-over selves out of bed for some oil, though it hadn't been easy. Tomato was the only one who wasn't affected by the dark energon at the club—he had been spared from this because he hadn't been intoxicated with anything last night, but the other Decepticons were not so fortunate.

"Why did I let you talk me into going to that club, Blitzwing?" Megatron groaned, leaning back into his chair and shading his optics.

"I do not even remember what happened last night," Blitzwing told his leader, sounding just as miserable.

"Well, my CPU was aching quite a bit this morning," Starscream complained.

"And I think I've thrown up all the dark energon I consumed last night," Blackarachnia added.

"I'm glad I didn't drink as much as you guys did, but I still feel a tad sick this morning," Shockwave informed the others. (Usually, Shockwave didn't drink excessively, but he did drink a lot on special occasions such as parties.)

"Where's Lugnut?" asked Megatron.

"Lugnut eez still sleeping," Blitzwing replied. "Ve should not wake him."

"Wow, you guys sure are hung over," Tomato marveled. "I guess that's why they call dark energon 'the very blood of Unicron'."

"Well, it tastes good, though," Megatron informed him. "I can totally handle it."

"And, it's a great way to lower a femme's resistance," Starscream added, smirking. Tomato couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "I'm sure I could get them into bed with me anyway, though."

"Enough!" yelled Megatron.

"Looks like somebody's jealous…" Starscream whispered teasingly.

"So, um, not to change the subject or anything, but did you guys know that I confessed my love to Blueberry last night?" Tomato randomly blurted out.

"I knew you could do it," Starscream said approvingly. "So…does she love you back, then?"

"Yes, she does, so I was wondering if we could have her around for lunch tomorrow." Tomato smiled and looked around the room, hoping Blueberry could come to the ship.

"Well, I…" Megatron looked pensive. "I guess so."

"Great!" Tomato shouted happily. "This is going to be fun!"

LUNCHTIME THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE…

All of the Decepticons were finishing setting up lunch (with an extra place for Blueberry, of course) when they heard knocking on their door. They looked outside the window, and it was Blueberry. Now, she had her Autobot look back, even though Tomato secretly had liked her Decepticon disguise very much.

"Hello, everyone," said Blueberry as she walked into the room, carrying a cube of energon. "I brought this energon for you all, as a gift."

"Thank you," Tomato replied, taking it and setting it on the table.

Megatron, Shockwave, Lugnut, Tomato and Blueberry were all in the room and sat down at the table. Blackarachnia, Blitzwing and Starscream hadn't shown up yet.

"So, what would you like to drink, Blueberry?" asked Tomato shyly. Now, he could feel the energy between Blueberry and himself, especially because he knew she loved him back, but ever since he'd confessed his love to her the other night, he felt that it was far too embarrassing to talk about their "relationship".

"I'd like oil, medium-grade, please," Blueberry replied politely, so Tomato got her some, getting some fizzy energon for himself, too. Then he sat down next to Blueberry and gave her the oil she had asked for, avoiding her optics as she drank it.

It wasn't too long before Starscream, Blackarachnia and Blitzwing finally decided to eat some lunch, but as soon as the three of them walked in, it was clear that something was wrong. Blackarachnia looked angry, Starscream looked annoyed, and Blitzwing looked shocked.

"What kept you three, dare I ask?" Megatron glared at them and crossed his arms.

"Blitzwing and Blackarachnia were going to the Decepticon hospital in Iacon for some processor ache painkillers, and I went with them." Starscream sighed and gestured to Blitzwing. "We found out that this glitch-head has fathered Blackarachnia's new sparkling."

Tomato spit out his drink; Blueberry and Shockwave gasped; Megatron growled and slapped himself in the forehead; Lugnut just looked confused.

"H-How is that possible?" asked Tomato, feeling shocked.

"We both had a lot of energon in our systems," Blackarachnia told him. "I had dark energon, he had WAY too much fizzy energon, as usual."

"And now we've got a wonderful little bundle of joy!" Crazy Blitzwing giggled, to which he received a slap from Blackarachnia.

"I wish you guys would do what I do and just carry some robot condoms everywhere," Starscream told them. "You'll notice that I've never fathered a child by accident."

"Yes, well, I guess we just didn't want to wait," said Blackarachnia. "Primus knows why my intoxicated self wanted to 'face with this idiot, though."

"Hmm, a sparkling," said Tomato. "How soon will it get here?"

"Seven to nine lunar cycles," Starscream replied. "I'm sure they'll love their new sparkling."

"I'm pretty sure the last sparkling on the Elite Guard was me," Blueberry commented. "I think it might be fun to sparkling-sit."

"And you have to sparkling-proof the base," Shockwave added. "Don't leave anything dangerous lying out."

"Well, I'm not taking care of it," Megatron told them. "I have more important things to worry about."

"Now, that's not very nice, is it, Megatron?" Blueberry said politely. "Doesn't this sparkling belong to everyone here? Besides, a sparkling is always a good thing."

"You want one yourself?" asked Starscream.

"Well, maybe when I grow up, but I want to finish school first," Blueberry replied. "I don't know if you guys know it, but my goal is to get a degree in Science and Technology at University of Crystal City and become a scientist for the Elite Guard."

"That's quite a goal," said Icy Blitzwing, looking impressed.

"I know she can do it, though." Tomato smiled at Blueberry, and she smiled back.

THE NEXT MORNING…

Blueberry had school that morning, so Tomato was lonely. However, she did promise she'd come over later, so at least he had something to look forward to. Right now, he was on the couch, watching Wind Beneath My Wings with Starscream (believe it or not, the show was kind of growing on him).

This time on screen, the femme (who turned out to be the main character of the show) was with a very handsome mech, but he didn't seem to be very happy with her.

"All you ever care about is yourself!" the mech was yelling.

"That's not true!" she cried.

"Yes it is!" he said back. "No wonder nobody wants to marry you! Every mech you're with gets fooled by you, and then you just leave him on his own!"

"That's his problem, then, not mine!" she told him. "Why on Earth can't you see?"

"Oh, I see, all right!" he replied angrily. "I see that you're not worth my time, woman!"

"No, don't go!" she called after him desperately, but he was already gone. Starscream and Tomato's mouths were both open in shock.

"Wow, I can't wait to see next week's episode!" Tomato cried. "I wonder if they'll make up."

Starscream shrugged. "Really, you never know with her."

Just then, Tomato's com. link rang. He answered, and it was Blueberry.

"Hi, Tomato," she said, smiling brightly. "School's over, and I'm on my way to the Nemesis. I'll be there in about ten cycles, okay?"

"Okay," Tomato replied, and he stood by the air lock, waiting for her to arrive. Finally, she did, after ten cycles. Tomato ran right out to greet her.

"Good afternoon, Tomato," Blueberry said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Tomato smiled and showed her inside.

"What were you watching?" Blueberry asked, looking at the TV.

"We were watching Wind Beneath My Wings," Tomato explained. "It's this show on the Seeker channel. Starscream introduced me to it, and it actually turned out to be pretty good."

Blueberry nodded, then sank down on the couch. "For Spark's sake, that was a rough day at school."

"Really?" Tomato asked curiously. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing, we're just studying for this huge midterm coming up," Blueberry explained. "It's pretty stressful."

"Don't worry." Tomato smiled and held her close. "You can cuddle up with me."

Ever since the time at the club, Tomato figured Blueberry was at least sort of his girlfriend. Now he knew they had something, at least…especially because she didn't try to pull away when he reached for her. Instead, she just leaned into him, seeking comfort.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Has…has everything else been going fine?" Tomato asked. "You know, because you look like more than one thing is going on."

"Oh, no," she replied. "Everything else is fine."

"I can tell there's something else going on." Tomato looked at Blueberry closely. "Something that doesn't have anything to do with your school."

"Really, it's nothing," Blueberry insisted. "I didn't—I mean—there's just—"

And before Tomato knew it, Blueberry was sobbing into his shoulder hysterically.

"Wha…?" Tomato had no idea what she was crying about.

"Oh, you're right, Tomato!" she cried. "Something is terribly wrong! And I don't know what to do about it!"

"Terribly wrong?" Tomato was hoping he wouldn't have a full-blown panic attack. "What are you talking about?!"

"It's—it's my father," Blueberry explained, tears in her blue optics. "You see, he's an Elite Guard trooper, and he's found this trainee who works under him named Carjack."

"Umm…okay?" Tomato didn't know where exactly this was heading.

"I know Carjack is really just a son-of-a-glitch, but he always acts respectful in front of my parents, so they think he's a great mech," Blueberry replied sadly.

Tomato shrugged. "So?"

"So, they want me to marry him!" Blueberry wailed. "I don't want to marry Carjack! That would be a nightmare!"

Tomato didn't know what to think of this. If Blueberry did what her father wished, she would be Carjack's bride, and Tomato would never have a serious relationship with her. And, like she said, Carjack was not a good 'bot. That meant she probably wouldn't be happy in that relationship, either.

"We have to stop them," Tomato whispered, stroking Blueberry's head.

"I could never marry Carjack," Blueberry told him sadly. "You wouldn't believe him…he's almost as bad as Sentinel Prime."

"What does he do?"

"Like I said, he's respectful in front of my parents, but when it's just me and him, he acts like his true, horrible self," she replied. "Mostly he'll verbally abuse me…but every so often I'll find myself shoved into a wall or onto the ground when I don't do exactly what he says. Plus, he doesn't think I should be a scientist, because he says femmes should only become things like nurses and mothers and all that."

Tomato stood up angrily. "Well, I think I'll go over to that jerk and give him a taste of his own medicine!"

"No, don't!" Blueberry warned him, pulling him back onto the couch. "I don't want Carjack to hurt you. You know, he's very violent…and he's training to be an Elite Guard trooper."

Tomato lifted up his arm and pointed to the gun with his other arm. "Do you know what this is?"

"Your gun," Blueberry replied.

"Yes, and it's very powerful, too," Tomato told her. "I've got a sharp, lethal sword, too, and I can fight with my fists. Plus, I can fly, which I doubt Carjack can. There's no way he could beat me in a battle. I was trained by Megatron, remember?"

"Well…I guess so," Blueberry said reluctantly. "But still, you should only fight him for self-defense, all right?"

"All right," Tomato agreed, giving her a hug. By the time she left, she looked a little happier.

The same couldn't be said for Tomato, unfortunately. All night he couldn't get a cycle of recharge…he kept on thinking about how Blueberry could be hurt by Carjack. If Carjack was really Blueberry's boyfriend, he would protect her, not hurt her.

And if Tomato was Blueberry's boyfriend, he couldn't let her get hurt.

By anyone or anything.

"I'm going to get that Carjack, whether she wants it or not," Tomato whispered to himself, turning over in bed. "I just need to figure out how."