Finally! Steeljaw is introduced! Everyone has been so excited for this episode, I'm sure.

JJ: Tease? What for? You're welcome and don't be so scared! This is Anna and Bumblebee we're talking about. They've faced worse things than Steeljaw. He's still going to be a problem though.

Guest: That's a really cool idea! Thank you so much, I'll have to think about it.

Gry20: That's quite a review, haha. I like it though. My scene is a bit different but I do have some similarities. I can also see Anna and Grim doing those things!

Adby1: Thank you so much! There may be some babies in the future, but the far future.

Anna vented as she peered down at the 'empty' pod. "We came through, what, seven miles of mud to find nothing."

Strongarm peered in at the mud, frowning. "To be fair, it's not really empty, ma'am."

Anna rolled her optics, turning to watch as Sideswipe tried to pull more branches out of his armor. "It's not that bad, Sideswipe. You can hose down back at base."

Sideswipe groaned, wiping some mud from his legs. "After it's ruined my finish!"

Bumblebee shook his helm at everyone, "We still need to bring it back to base."

Sideswipe held onto Anna's arms, pleading with her. "Please, please bridge us back!"

Anna chuckled, opening a ground bridge beside them all. "I planned on it, Sideswipe." She stepped around him to pick up the pod. "You all go through first."

Bumblebee smiled and kissed her helm before going through the bridge to get a spot ready. Strongarm followed behind him, glad to be out of the mud soon. Sideswipe practically ran through, though almost slipping on the mud.

Anna turned as Grimlock didn't go through. "You can't want to walk back, Grim?"

Grimlock turned to her, narrowing his optics. He lowered his head, growling at her lowly.

Anna frowned up at him, "Grimlock?"

Grim shook his head before walking through the ground bridge.

Anna slowly walked through after him, setting the pod down where Bumblebee was waiting. She was just repositioning the pod when an alarm rang out through the base. Anna activated both of her guns, looking around the base.

Bumblebee ducked when her guns went over him, "Whoa, Anna!" He then turned towards Fixit, "What's that noise?"

Fixit hastily stopped the alarm when Anna aimed her guns in his direction. "It's fine!" He relaxed when Anna lowered her arms, the guns going back into her arms. "It's our new, pox, uh, proximity alarm."

Russell ran down the ramp, grinning. "Which I know how to operate, because I was totally listening."

Fixit glared down at him, "Oh you were hardly…" He vented before looking back at the team. "Anyway, how did the mission go?"

Bumblebee glared down at the pod before looking back at Fixit, "We wandered through 7 klicks of mud to find an empty pod."

Strongarm opened the pod as she spoke, "To be accurate, the pod wasn't completely empty." Once the doors opened, more mud fell out. She then turned to Sideswipe, motioning with her servo. "Sideswipe, tell Fixit how you lent a hand." She smirked at him, "Oh, that's right. You didn't."

Sideswipe glared up at her from his spot on the ground, pausing in getting more branches free from his armor. He then quickly got up, motioning to her. "Hey, if anyone slowed us down it was Grimlock!" He turned to Grimlock, frowning up at him. "I've seen fried circuits livelier than you were today."

Anna motioned towards her friend, "I don't think Grim is feeling that well today." She wanted to give her friend the benefit of the doubt because something was wrong with him. She just didn't know what…

Sideswipe chuckled up at the dino, holding his hands up, "No offense." He then cried out as Grimlock smacked him with his tail, sending him flying.

Bumblebee gaped at him, "Grimlock!"

Anna stepped in front of where Russell was standing, "Grimlock, what's wrong?!"

Sideswipe looked up at him as he began to get up, "What's gotten into-" He paused as Grimlock roared loudly at him, "You?" He had to dodge as Grimlock charged at him, crying out as he did. He backed up as Grimlock began to charge at him again. "What's your backfire, Grimlock!?"

Bumblebee jumped in between them, holding a hand out towards Sideswipe while he had a hand on Grimlock's arm. "Break it up!"

Grimlock paused before growling at him. "Keep your hands off of me, Autobot!" He swiped Bumblebee into the rock wall, roaring as he did.

Anna heard Bee cry out in pain before he fell to the ground, not getting up. Anna ran towards Grimlock, tackling him to the ground. "Grimlock!" She had him pinned, glaring into his optics as she leaned down, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but we don't hurt out teammates!"

Strongarm took the chance, turning to the minicon, "Fixit, get Russell into the Command Center!" She then jogged over to Sideswipe, helping him up.

Grimlock raised his arm to attack her but growled even more, his arm shaking. "Stay away from me!" He then stood up, making Anna drop to the ground. He shook his head before turning to the other two.

Anna sat up, watching as Grimlock went to attack Strongarm as she had a gun pointed at him. "Strongarm, don't!"

Sideswipe pushed her arm away, making her shoot a shelf. All the junk rained down on Grimlock, momentarily trapping him. "Don't!"

Strongarm motioned to him, Anna and Bee. "He assaulted both you and Bee without cause. He even tried to hurt Anna!"

Sideswipe frowned at her, "You assault me all the time!" He then cried out as Grimlock got free, knocking him into the air. He quickly began punching Strongarm, his hits still hurting her though she used her arm guards.

Anna recovered, opening a ground bridge under Grimlock, opening the other side in the air above her. She ran over to Strongarm, wincing as she was knocked out already. "Scrap, Strongarm..." She turned as Grimlock crashed to the ground, wincing again. "I'm sorry, Grim."

Sideswipe jumped on top of Grimlock, trying to talk to him. "Stop, Grimlock!"

Grimlock groaned as he tried to shake him off. "Stop fighting me!" His voice then deepened a bit, "They don't stand a chance and neither do you!"

Sideswipe frowned at Anna and then tried to talk to him again, "Dude, what is this about?"

Grimlock turned his helm to look back at him, "It's about me flattening you!" He jumped up and turned on his back, crushing Sideswipe beneath him.

Anna frowned at him, "Grimlock! What is wrong with you!?"

Grimlock turned to her, glaring. "Nothing. Now stop getting in my way!" He reached out for her but she dodged, sliding under him.

Anna kicked out his legs, knocking him to the ground. She quickly aimed her gun at the back of his helm, not going to shoot but she hoped Grimlock would believe she would for the moment. "Grimlock, stand down!"

Grimlock growled loudly, "I don't listen to Autobots and especially not femmes." He shook her off before punching her into the ground, repeatedly.

Anna cried out as he kept punching her, not even able to lift her arms to block. One good punch knocked her out like Strongarm, her body slumping in the hole in the ground.

Grimlock groaned, shaking his helm when he saw what he did. He then straightened up, growling again. "Keep moving." He then began to head towards the Alchemor.

Russell frowned as he turned to Fixit, "Who's Grimlock talking to?" He then gasped when he saw where he was headed, "Grimlock's coming this way!"

Fixit nodded, "I'll handle this."

Russell frowned at him again, "You'll handle a Dinobot? Have you seen you?"

Fixit groaned, "You're right. I'll be smooshed." He then straightened up. "But I am still the official caretaker of the Alchemor." He went to roll away but came back, "And when I'm gone, I need you to keep your dad from touching my things." He then rolled to the ramp, aiming his shock gun towards Grim. "Grimlock, I don't know what's happening, but I order you to stand clown, stand brown, stand down right now!"

Grimlock looked down at him, smirking. "Don't know if your optics are on the blink, but I just took apart four bots without warming my coolant. What are you gonna do, Squeaky?" He watched as Fixit tried to shock him, it not even hurting him. He then flicked the minicon away with two fingers, chuckling. He then climbed up, reaching to punch the human.

Russell gaped up at him, "This isn't you, Grimlock! Something's wrong."

Grimlock growled again, "Yeah, everyone's in my way!" He went to punch him again but his arm wouldn't move. He grunted loudly, "Seriously, you're not gonna let me smash this little thing? Dinobots, so hard to control." He dropped his arm, "Fine." He got down, looking around, "Where are the stasis pods?"

Russell turned as Fixit groaned. He ran over to him, holding up his upper body, "Are you okay?"

"Abso-loosely, posi-stiffly not." He glitched a few more times as he tried to speak.

Russell stood up, "Fixit, I need you to tell me how to work the proximity alarm."

Fixit looked up at him, "Oh, now you want to-"

"Fixit! Maybe we can use it to scare Grimlock or whatever's commanding him away."

Fixit nodded, motioning to the right panel, "Controls are on that panel." He stood up, wanting to move but couldn't. He looked down to see his lower body sparking as something was damaged with his mobility controls. "Might take me a moment to get there, however." He watched as Russel ran to the controls, "It's a very simple procedure. All you have to do is-" He gasped as Russell pulled on some cords, sparks flaring up as he did. "Push the red button!"

Not much later Grimlock came back, pushing a cart with Underbite in his pod on it. He then charged up to them, smashing the control panel. "Turn that noise off!" He damaged it too much and the alarm stopped blaring. He then picked up Russell by his hood, raising him up to eye level. "Listen, human, I know you were trying to signal for help."

Russel shook his head before crossing his arms and looking smug. "I wasn't, but help's coming anyway. Optimus Prime should be here any second." He then gasped as he was dropped to the ground, "Whoa!"

Grimlock looked around in worry, "Huh, Optimus?"

Russell looked up at him from laying on the ground, "That was our new proximity alarm. It means Optimus is close by."

Grimlock held his arms up in worry, looking around. "I can't beat Optimus mano a mano. But the boss will scrap me if I come back empty-handed…" He then turned slowly, looking at the cart as he smirked. "Ah. I'm not empty-handed. I have Underbite."

Russell then watched as Grimlock left with Underbite in tow, frowning.

{X}

Anna sat up slowly, rubbing the back of her helm. "Ugh…"

"Anna!"

Anna looked up to see Bumblebee turning from Fixit and running to her. He kneeled beside her, brushing his servos over her helm to make sure she wasn't wounded. "Are you alright?"

Anna smiled softly and nodded, "I'm alright, Bee." She stood up with his help, leaning against him for the moment. "Are you?"

Bumblebee nodded his helm, "I'm alright." He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her. "Russell said Grimlock beat you to a pulp."

Anna groaned, feeling sore already. "It feels like it… Something is seriously wrong with him. He seemed at war with himself about hurting me…"

They both turned as Sideswipe got up, groaning. "Where's Grimlock?"

Bumblebee answered him, "Russell scared him away but Grimlock has Underbite."

Russell nodded, "He said he was taking the 'con to some boss."

Strongarm strolled up to them all, her gun ready. "But I can't believe I fell for the old innocent T Rex routine. We should interrogate Grimlock's known associates. He's clearly been fooling us all this time."

Sideswipe glared at her, "We are Grimlock's known associates."

Russell looked up at them all, "I-I think-"

He was cut off by Bee, "I've seen Grimlock's rap sheet. The only crime on there is severe property damage due to Grimlock being Grimlock."

Strongarm shook her helm, "That's what he wants us to think."

Russell frowned more, "If you'll just-"

Sideswipe stepped closer to Strongarm, shaking his helm. "No way Grimlock attacked us willingly. The boss must have forced him."

Anna saw that Russell was getting angry. She gently picked him up, placing him on her shoulder. She then turned to the others, "Guys!"

The other four turned to her, raising their eye ridges.

Russell smiled at Anna before turning to the others. "I don't think Grimlock's in control of himself. He wanted to hit me, but he couldn't. It was like there was a war going on inside him."

Anna nodded at Russell, "He didn't want to hurt me either until I was in his way…"

Strongarm listened to them before frowning, "Accept it. Grimlock's just a bad bot who's been playing us for suckers."

Anna frowned at Strongarm. "I know you're angry and hurt, Strongarm. But this is Grimlock. He's been our friend since the day he woke up from stasis!"

Bumblebee patted Anna's arm before getting into leader mode. "Whatever's going on, our first priority is to find Grimlock and that pod, and bring them both back here."

Sideswipe motioned to the yellow 'bot. "This isn't Grim's fault, Bee. What they're saying is at least possible, right? Tell me you know that."

Bumblebee frowned, looking away from him, Anna and Russell. He vented before walking off to the Alchemor.

Anna frowned watching her mate walk away. She then looked down at Russell. "I believe you, Russell."

Sideswipe walked over to them, "Me too. This isn't like Grimlock."

{X}

Fixit vented as he looked up at his screen. "I can't locate Grimlock's signal." The little platform he was on moved down, "Comm and tracking systems were damaged when he hit the console."

Bumblebee thought about everything he learned, nodding his helm. "Okay, Grim said he was meeting someone, therefore they must have set a rendezvous point."

Russell looked up at him, "It sounded like the original plan was for Grimlock to grab more than one pod."

Strongarm looked down at him, one servo on her hip. "Are there any secluded areas nearby that are large enough to hide, say, a dozen bots?"

Russell thought about it before nodding. "The Crown River Dam. It's huge."

Fixit nodded as he read up on the dam. "And fully automated. No human personnel."

Bumblebee nodded. "We'll start there. Fixit, you and Russell try to get the comm systems functioning." Bumblebee stood up on the ship's ledge, motioning off into the distance dramatically. "Autobots, maximum velocity!" He was met by pure silence except for a few crickets chirping. He vented before making a pleading motion, "All right, fine. Just transform, please." The four of them quickly transformed, driving off.

{X}

Anna watched as Strong arm knelt by one of Grimlock's tracks, his path full of destroyed foliage. "At least our fugitive should be easy to track."

Sideswipe stepped around her, walking ahead of them. "I'll take point. I'd hate for our teammate to get nailed by a trigger-happy peace officer."

Anna vented softly as she stepped up, walking just a little bit behind Sideswipe in case something happened. She then looked over as Bumblebee caught up to them, Strongarm staying behind them. "Bee?"

Bee looked at her and then at Sideswipe. "I don't know what's gonna happen when we find Grimlock. But I promise you that I'll do everything possible to see that he doesn't get hurt."

Anna paused when both mechs walked through a red laser beam, a small beep going off. She looked ahead of them to see the ledge turn to pure ice. "Bee, Side-" She didn't have time to finish because both mechs slipped and fell down the cliff. "Bee! Sideswipe!"

Strongarm ran up beside her, "Lieutenant!"

Anna watched with horror as both mechs tumbled down. She relaxed when Bee caught Sideswipe just in time before he would have fallen down a chasm. She quickly opened a ground bridge, both femmes falling to land beside the two mechs. Anna quickly pulled Bee up as Strongarm helped Sideswipe. "Are you alright, Bee?"

Bumblebee nodded, gently kissing the side of her helm. "I'm alright, Anna."

Strongarm patted some dust off Sideswipe's arm, "Are you okay?"

Sideswipe nodded, frowning lightly. "Yeah… Thanks."

Anna opened another ground bridge to where they fell so they could investigate. She picked up the device, looking it over. "This froze the ledge when you passed by."

Strongarm watched as Anna handed the device to Bee, frowning. "Friendly bots don't generally build traps for the good guys. Right, lieutenant?"

Anna frowned at her, "Strongarm-"

Bumblebee quickly stood in-between them, shaking his helm. "Let's not fight."

Anna bit at her glossa to stay quiet before walking off, venting softly.

{X}

Anna walked behind Bumblebee as they approached the base, hearing two voices talking to each other. One of them was Grimlock and the other was a male, someone Strongarm and Sideswipe recognized at least.

"But as far as my intention to make this world a home for all Decepticons, you and Underbite are at least a place to start."

The four of them got into formation, aiming their weapons at the Decepticon. Bumblebee spoke up, glaring at the wolf-con. "Or end, Steeljaw."

Anna raised an eyebrow at the 'con, sneering at him when he looked her over.

Steeljaw looked over at Grimlock, frowning. "You took care of them, did you?

Grimlock shrugged, "Mostly."

Steeljaw flexed his claws as Bumblebee stepped forward. "Savor the daylight. Things are about to get rather dark." He sprinted as Bee as he did, jumping in the air to punch him. Bumblebee overtook him, tumbling into some wooden spools. Steeljaw tried to claw at Bee but he kicked him off. Steeljaw quickly pinned Bumblebee to a wall, fighting to overpower him again.

Strongarm frowned, trying to get a clear shot. "Get clear, lieutenant!"

Bumblebee grunted, "I'm trying!"

Anna had enough and ran at Steeljaw, punching him so hard in the helm that he hit the other wall, groaning. "Don't touch my mate!"

Steeljaw sat up, rubbing his jaw as he glared at her. "That bug is your mate? That's so sad." He got up and ran at them again. "Strong femmes need strong mechs to mate with!"

Bumblebee got pissed, tackling him as he went to run at Anna. "I'm plenty strong enough!"

Anna vented at the mech display in front of her. "This isn't impressive either." She gasped and fell to the floor as something flew past her. She realized it was a spool with Strongarm on the front. She collided with the two mechs, sending them into a stack of more stools. "Bee!"

She turned when she saw Steeljaw sneaking around her, talking to Grimlock. "Get a grip on yourself!"

Anna ran up behind him, punching him so he was sent sprawling to the ground. "Maybe you should focus on your problems and not his."

Sideswipe pinned him to the ground, "What did you do to Grimlock? Some kind of mind control?"

Steeljaw flipped Sideswipe over on the ground before dodging Anna's attack. "Oh, is it so hard to believe the Dinobot would choose me over all of you?"

Anna growled and kicked his legs out from under him, "Yes!"

Sideswipe came up behind him, swinging his sword and cutting at his back. "It kinda is!" Together Sideswipe and Anna continued attacking Steeljaw, continuing to back him up as they were ruthless. Sideswipe had him against a wall, pinning him there. Anna had her gun aimed at his helm, glaring into his optics. "Whatever you've done to Grimlock, undo it, now!"

Steeljaw smirked at them, "I believe you have more pressing concerns."

The two turned to see Grimlock slamming both of their teammates into the ground. Anna growled, seeing red as she heard Bumblebee crying out in pain. "Bee!"

Steeljaw continued smirking, "Oh, I doubt they're going to survive this." He then purred towards Anna, "Then you can be mine."

Anna turned slowly towards him, using the armor on her elbow to leave a deep gash across his face. "Don't joke around. I would kill you before I let you touch me!"

Steeljaw fell to the floor, his servo over his face that was leaking Energon. He growled deeply as he looked up at her. At that point he knew he was going to make Anna his. She was everything he imagined in a mate, a femme someone like that bug didn't deserve.

Sideswipe kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "It's not over, Steeljaw!"

Anna smirked at him before running towards Grimlock, Sideswipe beside her. That was until Grim threw their teammates as them. Anna caught Bumblebee in her arms, smirking down at him. "Hey babe."

Bumblebee chuckled softly, leaning up to kiss her before he was sat down. "Thanks for the catch, Darlin'."

Sideswipe caught Strongarm, swinging with her until he could stand normally. He smirked as he sat her down.

Strongarm straightened up, feeling her cheeks warm a little. "Nice catch."

Sideswipe winked at her, "Anything for a teammate."

Strongarm frowned as Grimlock roared at them, "Does Grimlock look like he's playing for our team right now?"

Anna stood up in front of Bee when Grimlock slammed his fist down. She pushed back, keeping him from hurting Bumblebee. "Grimlock, stop this!"

Sideswipe grabbed onto his other arm, keeping him from swinging with that one as well. Strongarm jumped onto the arm Anna was pushing back. Bumblebee helped Sideswipe on the other arm. Together the four of them stopped Grimlock from attacking, holding him down.

Steeljaw spoke up from across the room, smirking at them. Though he still seemed pissed because Anna's mark would be permanent as she doubted they had a medic to heal that deep gash. "Farewell, brother. I need Decepticons who don't turn simple tasks into debacles." He then began pushing the cart outside, the one that had Underbite on it.

Anna was going to go after him but Grimlock began struggling more. "I can finish this, Steeljaw! Wait for me!" He shook off three of them but Anna held on, slamming Grimlock on the ground.

Bumblebee stood up, "Anna, can you keep him busy?"

Anna nodded her head, stepping back as Grimlock got up. "Yeah."

Sideswipe stepped up beside her, "I'll help."

Bumblebee nodded, turning to his cadet. "Strongarm, with me."

Anna couldn't pay attention to what they were doing as she and Sideswipe dodged his attacks, not letting him get distracted from them. Anna held Grimlock's arms still as Sideswipe placed his sword in his mouth, not letting Grimlock snap his mouth shut. Anna and Sideswipe quickly jumped out of the way for the other two.

Bumblebee and Strongarm were driving in circles around Grimlock, wrapping some strong cable around his legs as they did. They then split apart, snapping the cord tight around his feet.

Sideswipe walked up to Grimlock, looking up at him. "You know what I always liked best about you, Grimlock? Your height." He then gently pushed Grimlock, watching as the large 'bot fell back.

Anna caught him, laying him down gently. She then quickly got some Energon cuff links from her subspace, locking them around Grim's arms.

Strongarm came up beside her, pulling out the sword. "Grimlock, you have the right to remain silent." She aimed her gun at him when he began to growl at her.

They all groaned as the com went online, some static being heard before Fixit began talking. "Lieutenant, can you hear me? Is it working? Russell, it's not-"

Bumblebee commed him back, "Go ahead, Fixit." They all looked at each other as strange music began playing over the com.

Fixit then talked again, the music stopping. "Oh, sorry about that. Grimlock is not Grimlock. I mean, Grimlock is Grimlock, but he's not Grimlock."

Russel spoke up, "There's a cyber-tick named Minitron who can control any bot he bites. He must be hiding somewhere on Grimlock's plating."

Sideswipe smirked at Bee while Anna smirked smugly at Strongarm.

{X}

Anna sat on Grimlock as she watched their three teammates fighting as Minitron was controlling them all at different times. She chuckled as it began to get hilarious, until she spotted Minitron scampering towards them. Anna quickly dodged out of the way as it dove for her.

Grimlock quickly caught it, glaring down at it. "Not her, you little 'con."

Bumblebee stepped towards him, trying to reason with him. "Grimlock, I know Minitron hurt you, but he's no longer a threat. We can't squish him."

Grimlock smirked, "Oh I can definitely squish him." He then flicked him to Anna. "Then again, I'm not a bad guy."

Anna laughed as she caught Minitron, looking down at the little 'con. "You've caused enough trouble for a lifetime." She held the 'con in her servo, clenching her digits so it couldn't escape. "Let's go home."

{X}

Anna laid the 'con in its tiny stasis pod, watching with satisfaction as it froze over immediately. She relaxed, turning to see Grimlock grinning at them all nervously.

Strongarm looked up at him, frowning softly. "Grimlock… I'm sorry, I was-"

Grimlock shook his helm, holding up his hand. "Just doing your job."

Bumblebee stepped up, patting his arm. "It's your job now too, Grimlock. You're one of us."

Anna grinned happily, leaning against her mate's side as she watched Grimlock jumping up and down. "I'll change that Decepticon symbol to Autobot, Grim."

He then calmed down, standing up straight. "I mean, oh, yeah. Thank you, sir."

Bumblebee smiled happily up at him, "You're welcome, Grimlock." He looked at Anna and smirked. "My mate's been demanding I do it for a while now."

Grimlock grinned and picked her up, then Russell and Sideswipe. "You three!"

Anna laughed as she was squished by his hug. "Love you too, Grim."

Sideswipe grunted, "No problem."

Russel groaned, "Can I have my lungs back?"

Grimlock grinned, "In a minute." He then walked off with them, still hugging them all happily.

Strongarm looked up at Bumblebee's fond smile, smiling softly herself before she vented. This caused Bee to look at her curiously. "Steeljaw has Underbite."

Bumblebee looked at Anna, feeling raw anger flooding his systems. He knew Steeljaw wanted Anna, badly. He saw the looks he was giving her. He also knew neither of them were going to let someone separate them again. That thought let him relax, venting softly.

Fixit looked up at them, "Who now has all the time in the world to consume metal and increase his strength."

Bumblebee smiled at the two, "Good thing we're getting stronger all the time too."

Russell groaned, "Grimlock, seriously Oxygen! Room getting darker"

Anna just laughed, hugging Grimlock back. "I'm just glad you're back!"