Chapter 28

Hangar E…

The sun was setting over the desert, casting shadows through the towering caverns and a glare across the horizon. Alex silently watched the sun set as he sat in the shadow of the building, as well as enjoying the cool breeze that formed part of the falling night. Voices and laughter could be heard coming from inside the base. June had arranged for the humans to have dinner here that night and by the sound of it, all was well. But for some reason Alex didn't feel it proper to go and join them.

It was the night after Nurse Darby and Agent Fowler had had their little adventure involving Knock Out. All of the Autobots had returned from their duties and missions and were enjoying some well-earned downtime with their friends. When passing through the hangar earlier, no eye-contact or sound was made between Alex and the others, prompting a sense of tension that he would rather not endure. He received a look of sympathy from Rafael, but chose to ignore it. When heading outside, he passed Ultra Magnus returning from his ship. From the mech he received a look made of stone, but he chose to ignore that too.

However the solitude had given him time to do a bit of thinking. Alex was no longer aware of what exactly the future held, but he did have some pretty good ideas. The synopsis and preview of episode eight entitled 'thirst' clearly showed that Starscream and Knock Out had been playing around with dark energon and Ratchet's synthetic stuff, causing the creation of what appeared to be decepticon zombies. The highlight of which being the reanimated corpse of Breakdown. Alex shivered at the idea of a resurrected Silas running around the place but quickly discarded it, knowing that Megatron would most certainly take care of the problem at hand. The question was though what repercussions there would be. Back in his world, there was a three-week interval scheduled between episodes eight and nine, but would that be reflected here? Alex didn't like the possibility of sitting there doing nothing for three whole weeks, but what exactly could he do?

However what was of even more worry was of what came after that. Episode nine and beyond was completely unknown ground, with only the synopsis for nine and ten to go on. Alex knew that Megatron would begin to have doubts of the predacons, and that the Autobots would capture an enemy, though not which one. However even without episode nine's synopsis he was willing to bet everything he had, that the predacons would not stay under the decepticons control for much longer. There was no way in hell that Megatron could maintain his hold over the one he currently had, let alone the forthcoming ones.

But none of this answered a particular question, one which Alex feared. What was waiting for them at the end of Season Three?

The sound of large footsteps approaching brought him back down to Earth. Looking up he was greeted with the blue optics of Smokescreen, shining in the dusk. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding more inquisitive than concerned.

"Thinking." Alex replied.

"You do that a lot?"

"It works. You should try it sometime."

The Autobot could have reacted badly to the minor insult, but instead he snorted and gave a small grin. Alex went back to gazing at the view.

There was a moment of silence as Smokescreen turned to look at the horizon and then back down to the teenager. There was the sound of shifting metal as the giant robot then sat down next to him with his back up against the hangar wall. He was quiet as he also looked straight forward.

Minutes passed. Finally, he spoke. "What do you want?"

Alex continued to gaze ahead. Eventually, he replied.

"I don't know."

Smokescreen looked down at him. "What, do you want?" he repeated.

He didn't move. "Please don't." he murmured.

"Please don't what?" the mech raised an eyebrow.

"Please don't ask me that question."

"Why?"

Alex's head jerked a bit to the side, now looking to the ground. "Because I'll start asking questions then."

Smoke scoffed with mild amusement. "And what exactly would you ask abou-"

Alex then looked straight up at the mech with wide eyes. This caused the rookie to immediately go silent. A moment later he too had wide eyes as he stared back down at him.

"Oh." He said simply.

Alex said nothing. Instead he turned to look at the view again.

Smokescreen blinked. "So you know then."

"Of course I know." Snapped Alex. "You think they wouldn't show something that big?"

"I didn't think..." Smokescreen trailed off, having no idea what to say. Alex sighed and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. There was no need to act hostile.

"Sorry. Didn't mean it like that." He stated.

"It's alright." Replied the mech. "But I will say it again, Alex. I did what I thought was right."

"It was." Said Alex. "If it hadn't been for Optimus none of the Autobots would've survived. But I need to know, Smokescreen." He looked up at the sitting giant, face now full of concern. "I need to know that you're not gonna go off and do something stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on Smokescreen, you were that close to becoming the next Prime." Alex continued. "And I saw the look on your face when Magnus ordered you about. I don't know what's going to happen anymore, so I need to make sure there isn't any resentment."

Smokescreen eyes narrowed. "You're one to talk. I'm surprised you haven't done something stupid yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ratchet told me about the little stunt you pulled before I arrived here." He explained. "And Raf told me how you reacted afterwards. I'm surprised you aren't out there right now looking for Megatron's head for revenge."

"It's called self-control."

"That won't hold forever. The day will come when you finally snap. And when it does, you won't do something stupid," He paused.

"You're gonna do something dangerous."

Alex turned and locked eyes with him.

"And do me a favor." He continued. "Don't be anywhere near the team when you do."

Alex just kept looking at the mech. "Smokescreen," he spoke slowly. "If I wanted to hurt anybody here, I would just have to go into that room right now and start talking."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it is me telling you why Megatron sees me as a threat. I may be in uncharted territory but I still have enough insight to cause some damage." Explained Alex.

"Then why don't you?" persisted Smokescreen. "You could help us. Tell what we need to do, what to avoid. You said it yourself; you're in uncharted territory now. Who's to say that you didn't help us finish this?"

"Because…" Now it was Alex's turn to trail off. He looked down at the ground.

And in that moment it hit the mech like a lobbing ball.

"You don't want it to end."

Alex was quiet for a bit. Finally he spoke. "There's nothing here for me, Smokescreen. No family, no home. The only thing that connects me to this place is you guys. The characters of a TV show I like to watch. What's left when this is all over? 'Cause I can tell you now that you guys won't be hanging around afterwards."

"And that's why you're not afraid to be in the firing line." Worked out Smokescreen.

"Either I die trying or I stay in a world that isn't mine."

Silence hung in the air as this was all processed. Smokescreen turned back to the view. By now the sun had vanished and the darkness had settled with the occasional star twinkle. He then stood up.

"Please don't tell anyone about this." Requested Alex.

"I won't. But you need to come inside now." Smokescreen replied. "Jack's mom has made something called tofu. No idea what it is but it's apparently good for you."

Alex sighed and reluctantly stood up. "For the record, don't blame me for the awkward silence."

"Are you kidding?" Miko is dying to hear about your chat with 'Screamer." Grinned the mech. "And maybe you can tell us a bit more about our characters. Tell me, what other roles have I played?"

The teenager had to scoff. "What like, you think you're an autobot one show and a decepticon the next?"

"I was thinking more on the lines of my vehicular form." His eyes went wide. "I play a 'con?!"

"Dude, I only watch Transformers Prime and sometimes a bit of Animated. How should I know either?"

"Well what do you know then?"

Alex thought for a moment. "I know that Bulkhead has an irrational fear of scraplets."

Smokescreen raised an eyebrow. "Go on." He said with a pinch of evil in his voice.

Alex sighed again. "Actually, some tofu right now would go down well."

To be continued…

A/N: The gaps between chapters may be getting longer but you have my word that I am writing when I can. Matric is a quiet year said no one ever. Enjoy!

CTmagic