Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! sorry it took awhile, for the past few months we keep losing our internet (it's currently out right now, but we acquired the neighbors passcode) I came down with a fever in January (it was probably the worst I've ever experienced ) and my mom has been hogging the computer alot lately, so barely any to type it up online there. Plus I've become really self conscious about my writing lately, I finished this chapter, but then after reading it I thought "is it too cheesy? not funny enough? is it confusing?" it made almost want to rewrite it! but hey! I made it 9,981 words for you guys! Hopefully everyone enjoys it, thank you everyone for reviewing the previous chapter! it has gotten 39 reviews and 59 favs and follows!

Okay I'm pretty sure everyone would like me stop being such a spazz and would like to get on with the story! Warning: possible fluff ahead along with a bit of blood scenes.

Disclaimer~Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing but the plot, my messed up sense of humor and my horrifying imagination.

~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~

"No!" Arcee yelled though it wouldn't do anything.She stood frozen in place, staring at the explosion with glazed optics in unbelievable horror. The ravine below was engulfed in fire, a fiery pit of an abyss more like it. Explosion after explosion, wave after wave it never seemed to cease as the black smog lifted into the graying sky like their hope for the duo's survival who were still M.I.A..
Arcee was so deep in her despairing thoughts that she didn't even realize Bulkhead started speaking as she blinked away the blurriness her optics had gathered.

"...Do you think they're?..." He trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence, the unanswered question that floated heavily in their processors.

Smokescreen shook his head briskly "no, they have to be alive, they're going to make it through, you'll see. A-And I bet Danny is phasing them through the flames as we speak!" even though he sounded confident, his reassuring's did nothing to ease their fears. Optimus couldn't even state his opinion on the matter seeing as he was unconscious again, either from the explosion or from the energon lost, but they hoped it was the former rather then the later.

Bulkhead couldn't meet the rookie's gaze as his turned grim " I don't know kid, Phantom looked in pretty bad shape the last time we saw him. I didn't really want to send him in to get Bee because of it." Bulkhead admitted, from the corner of his optic he saw Smokescreen's face flinch as a hint of worry shown through.

"You didn't send him in; none of us did, Phantom went in on his own terms, we just accepted it." Arcee corrected, her tone was cold and a steely gaze staring straight ahead, searching the fire for any sign of life. "But I shouldn't have agreed so easily, I should of have done a better job at stopping him though."

"Arcee don't beat yourself up about it" Smokescreen said his hopeful mood returning "besides Danny promised he was-"

but she cut him off "yeah he promised, but look where that got him now!"

"but he promised!" Smokescreen yelled back "and I believe he's gonna stick to it, we just have to wait it out."

"And-" Bulkhead interjected "we need to get Optimus back to base to receive medical attention pronto."

Arcee scanned Bulkhead over until her eyes landed on his still sparking foot from the few severed wires that were exposed. "Don't forget about yourself Bulk. Fine, I'll go com Ratchet again and see if he can send a bridge to this area. Bulkhead, keep watch over the entrance, Smokescreen keep an eye on Optimus, but if you see them go down there and help them, got it?" when Arcee received two simultaneous nods she took off to get to the drop point.

~~~~~~TFP-Decepticons~~~~~~

Knockout followed the drones as they blasted a giant hole into the side of the Axion Labs building, they were currently in the one that VladCo owned in Florida. Apparently Soundwave's snooping through the Fenton's research paid off a bit when he came across several mentioning's of a rare energy component that they used on pretty much all their Ghost hunting technology. So this was how Knockout was spending his Friday; instead of buffing the last remains of scratches adorning finish from their last confrontation with the Autbots, he was tasing the panicky fleshies that called themselves scientists- puh-lease, more like clueless imbeciles walking around in their fancy lab coats as they learn simple breakthroughs- with his Energon Prod before continuing to search for the green rock that they were looking for. He spun his signature weapon skillfully between his finger tips before it immediately shot out; quick as a snake, and brought down another fleeing human leaving it to a convulsing heap. Knockout sighed bitterly. It would've been so much faster if Breakdown was here.

Knockout's face contracted into a snarl at the sudden reminder before striking out again.

Sadly his former partner was no longer among the living thanks to that accursed lowlife Airachnid. He accepted the fact that Breakdown was gone, but he still hoped that he was still out there. And then one day when they heard about the ex-wrecker's signal popping back online and went to investigate, Knockout happen to decide he was gonna tag along.

Down goes another skin-job.

Oh the relief that flooded through him when he saw his friend's face appear through the smoke from the broken debris, Only to immediately turn to confusion when that wasn't Breakdown's voice speaking back. When Knockout took 'Breakdown' onto the Nemisis, he found out that it was the newly renamed Cylas who took Breakdown's... Remains and put them on like it was his everyday attire turned his shock into horror, to enraged to downright murderous, he wanted nothing more that to tear that armor off of Cylas and rip off his limbs.

Placing the Energon Rod back onto the latch on his back, he dusted off his hands as he surveyed his work. "Twenty fleshies down in just under two minutes, yes, I am just that good." he said in a satisfied tone.

Well at least now Silas was his new lab rat to see just how much a human can endure.

Instantly he went over to the monitors, digits flying over the conveniently decent sized keys hacking his way through a few files. He may not be Soundwave who had renowned hacking abilities but he knew the basics so he could hack his way into certain things. "Oh looky here, it seems Axion does have some ghost research files. Hmm... But it remains just that, research," Knockout rolled his optics in distaste "and there's so little of it, hardly anything to go by, proving humans are useless once again. All about historical articles and myths, mainly originating from the old town of Salem." Looking around a bit more, he came across a file displaying a image of a rose with a dark purple stem. There wasn't much info on them, something about burning demons or something but it sounded promising. Going through a few more files he found out that VladCo was helping in founding a government agency dubbed the Guys in White where all the information found was being sent to, it would explain why there were scientists here studying in the paranormal. He downloaded it's contents onto a drive for later.

Something green caught his optic, turning in its direction he spotted the thing they came here for behind a cracked door from all the action. He pried the doors apart, reaching in until he grasped the glowing rock as he studied it with interest. His scanners showed unknown energy readings emitting from it. "Found it!" he called to the drones in an obnoxiously loud voice. The vehicons instantly halted in their rummaging through broken hanger doors and came towards the CMO, starring at the glowing crystal with that blank stare of theirs. Knockout admittedly found that creepy as he shuddered openly. "Come on lets go already, the sooner we get back the sooner I can get back to my buffing and see if your incompetent drone buddies managed to blow up a few Autobots."

Not really caring if they followed or not, he grabbed a dangerously looking device that was abandon during the skirmish so he could test it out on Cylas later- see? I do care- before heading out the hole they came in through and called in for a bridge. "*Knockout to Soundwave, tell Lord Megatron that I've acquired his glow stone that he was being such a diva about earlier and telling us that I better not screw this up. Can you believe him?! I'm not Starscream*!" Knockout ranted the last bit mostly to him self, besides, Megatron could have sent his second in command Dreadwing for this little 'bust in and run out' job but instead he sent Knockout, So he had every right to be a bit testy.

He waited for a few seconds before the ground bridge whisked into existence. Just as he was about to go through he heard spraying noises. Turning around he caught the two vehicons in the act spraying Decepticon graffiti on the damaged building writing 'Decepticons rule' and were just in the process of writing 'Auto' before Knockout cut in.

"Just what do you two think your doing?!"

When the drones just exchanged nervous glances in reply, Knockout sighed in annoyance before holding out his free hand. Once the guilty cons handed them over Knockout grinned. "Well at least when you do Decepticon graffiti, do it right." He announced before shaking up the can and proceeded with spraying his message, causing a few of them to snicker.

~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

Danny could feel the numbness become apparent as the panic set in while sweat dripped down his face, the ectoplasm in his veins was rushing at an erratic pace trying to get his adrenaline going. But the fight or flee response wasn't going through the fourteen year old's mind, he was too focused on trying to prevent his shield from failing. But it proved fruitless as spiderweb fractures continued to spread across the dome rapidly.

Look how your failing. You can't save everyone. Your. Not. A. Hero. So. Stop. Pretending. That. You. Are!

"great, here comes the negativity." Danny muttered under his breath.

Your a disappointment, just a creepy little boy with creepy little powers who can't do anything right. The voices in his head echoed. "Shut...Up..." Danny whispered angrily but the voices merely laughed before chanting:

What are you?

A Failure?

A Freak?

A Disappointment?

A Monster?

A Liar?

Guess what? your all the above.

The heat outside the barrier was becoming more apparent causing his ghostcore to pulse harder trying to keep his body temperature in it's natural state.

"Phantom?..."

Danny could of swore he heard a different voice from the ones that echoed loudly. Who was it?

"Phantom..."

There it was again, they weren't calling for him were they? the voices were right, what kind of hero perpetually lied to their parents, always came home late with cuts and bruises they so desperately try to hide that they can't explain and barely pass the school year because their grades have gotten so bad mostly from lack of sleep. That wasn't a hero it was a failure. Danny gave a bitter laugh as he shook his head "Maybe... Their right, Iam a such a screw up. I promised Arcee that I would get you out of here, but it looks like I'm failing at that too..." he trailed off as he bowed his head down shamefully.

"...Phantom..."

Danny barely acknowledged the voice this time he was just so...Tired. Numbly feeling his powers wanting to retreat back into their dormant state to rest, he felt drained; physically and emotionally, Arcee's disproving glare had really sent his spirit down making him feel a bit miserable. He just wanted to sleep and be pulled into a nice dream, one that didn't require him to place the weight of the world on his shoulders and Go Ghost to play the hero role, he didn't want to disappoint anyone anymore. "Just a mm-ice dream" Danny muttered quietly as the black dots seemed to float invitingly in front of his eyes.

"Danny!"

the voice shouted, Danny didn't realize he closed his eyes until they had fluttered open at the sudden shout of his name when he jolted. Dang, who ever it is sure is persistent. Turning around he concluded that the voice had came from Bumblebee who was currently staring at him intently before saying in a encouraging voice "your not a failure."

Danny faced away from the yellow bot and sighed "my powers..." he screwed his eyes shut as he felt his throat tighten, his lungs seem to constrict themselves "I've... I've used them past their limits, I promised something that looks like I'm not gonna be able to keep, so... If that doesn't shout failure... Then I don't know what does." Danny felt his arms trembling, he doubted he had enough energy to summon his intangibility at this point.

"Danny," Bee paused "I want you to look at me." When he did, though hesitantly- maybe expecting to be yelled at or he was just too exhausted he didn't even know anymore at this point- Bumblebee continued.

"Look at all the ghost you fight! heck, you even managed to take down a few cons as well especially given your size."

"Is this pep talk going to turn into one of those 'short jokes'? cause I can see one coming on." Danny laughed, but it sounded strained like he was trying to diminish the pitying he could feel coming.

"No." Bee continued "I was simply referring to your body mass-"

"Oh, great, so your calling me fat?"

Bumblebee facepalmed at the Phantom's poor attempt at lightening the mood even if their current situation was dire. He briefly wondered just how many explosives the cons had set up, Gee, paranoid much that we wouldn't get blown up the first time? before continuing again "let me finish; you were able to take on cons ten times your size, you saved Optimus's tailpipe from being skewered by Megatron. That isn't failure,that's an accomplishment. You want to know what failure is? it's when you don't even try, it's when you don't even try to do the right thing, to learn from your mistakes so you can be a better person because it's too much work. You fight for the person you want to be, for a better tomorrow... Future... For a better you." He finished with a buzzing sigh.

The duo stared at each other for what seemed like decades but was only ten seconds. Finally Danny smiled, it was small but it was there, appreciation practically radiated from his face "your a bit of a fortune cookie aren't you?, your right though, I made a promise and I'm not going to brake it now." Danny said, but it was his own way of saying thanks instead of the usual mushiness. He didn't understand everything the scout said but he caught the gist of it. Danny felt something grow inside of him: some would call it hope, while others called it 'the need to fart'. Danny chose hope because he really needed some of that right now and not a funk cloud floating around the crackling dome that would heat up and gradually become worse.

Danny closed his eyes to think. There had to be something he could do to get them out of this, he'd done it before with his close calls with ghosts and avoiding capture he could do it again now. Ecto-Energy was out of the question, intangibility seemed nonexistent at the moment and there was no way he would be able to summon enough energy to use his Ghostly wail; not that it probably would've worked anyways. Think Fenton, think! what puts out fire? a fire extinguisher, but even that wouldn't be enough. If only I had liquid nitrogen on me so I could release it like a giant ice cloud...Ey!

Danny would've slapped his forehead at his forgetfulness, but that would cause their only form of protection to break. "Hello Meghan! I'm such a spazz, I have ice powers! I just need to focus; I can do this." Flashing Bumblebee a tired, yet confident smile just as his eye color abruptly changed from neon green to an icy blue hue, the temperature noticeably dropped a few degrees as Danny focused on the chilly feeling that resided within his being. He bit his lip, his fingers mentally grasping for it. He could see it, icy wisps of blue barely seen in his mind's eye just like his Ghost Sense, the power his core held was diminishing fast as it tried to retreat into itself to save it's reserves. Danny was having none of it as he glared in annoyance when the tips of his fingers hardly grazed the depleting energy source.
No! it's all I have left! I'm gonna get us out of here stupid ghost powers!
Ignoring the wave of fatigue that washed over him he thrust his hand forward once more, determined not to miss this time as he grabbed a firm hold over it as the coldness seeped through him like a sponge, a gasp tore through his lips at the sudden rush of cold air that spread through his hands producing blue sparks.

"Here comes the cold snap!" Danny quipped, time seemed to slow down; the shield shattered leaving green fragments raining down upon them, the fire seem to fly towards them like a savaged beast just as the air became increasingly hot, Bumblebee's optics flashed in fear but he stood bravely behind the ghost; hands prepared to snatch him and shield him instead if the plan didn't work. Just as it seemed the flames were gonna reach them Danny's hands shot forward as a giant blast of cryokinesis shot out and collided with the onslaught of flames just as time sped up again. Hot met cold as the sizzling sound of steam sounded, like when hot metal was dipped into a bucket of cold water creating a rush of cooling smoke that washed over them in a quick burst.

When the smoke cleared to be a thin fog it revealed a thick wall of ice that had blocked the explosions path, cold air came off in wisps sending a constant chill up your spine along with chattering teeth it was like being in a freezer, not that Danny was complaining though, he welcomed the change after all it was better then being barbecued alive. Danny first pumped the air weakly "did it...Yay, huzzah or whatever the heck you say." Before his panting filled the cavern echoing strangely off the walls.

Little black dots danced if front of his vision before blinking them away again like earlier, his hovering kept shortening out causing him to stumble midair before he regained it briefly. Danny instantly froze up. Getting the feeling he was being watched, Danny slowly turned to face the glowing blue optics lighting the dark gloom slightly that were filled with concern. For him.

Danny looked away feeling a bit guilty that he inadvertently caused someone to worry about him. Sure his family and friends worried about him (for different reasons of course) but that was different, Bumblebee was a bit of a stranger to him who he pretty much knew next to nothing about as well as the other way around. Causing someone he barely knew to feel worried about him just felt...Wrong.

Mustering up a cheerful smile was the first step of summing his facade as he straighten his posture before chuckling sheepishly "kinda forgot I had ice powers for a second there." But stopped when he realized Bee's expression still hadn't changed "what? is there something on my face?"

Bee remained silent for a few seconds before beeping out "are you okay?"

Danny ducked his head a bit, he was suspecting this but if he remained quiet for too long that might cause the Autobot to worry even more. "Um y-yeah" he stumbled, the confidence in his voice wavering "yeah I'm okay. How 'bout you?" aside from the ashy scorch marks adorning his armor and the fact that he was still favoring his doorwings which remained lowered, Bee didn't seem to sustain anymore injures then of what he did during the cave in.

Bumblebee nodded giving a faint thumbs up "I'm fine" he paused when he heard Danny sigh with relief as he gave his own nod "but what do mean by 'forgot'? how could you forget being able to do something like that?"

"What? it's not my fault that I'm so forgetful, bad habits die hard. Wait, I didn't tell you I had cryokinesis back at base did I?" when he received a "no" Danny pinched the bridge of his nose "see? point proven. Oh don't give me that look! besides, I was giving you guys the run of the mill list of ghost powers, you guys never asked about my personal ones- and before you ask, I'm not displaying my special cards in my deck just yet until I know everyone on the team is trustworthy." Danny was kinda proud of himself for coming up with that loophole.

"What are you-" before Bumblebee could finish Danny stopped him.

"No offense but think about it; some of the stuff that has happened so far seem-I don't know, shady?"

Bumblebee looked down dejectedly causing Danny's guilt to skyrocket again. "Hey! don't feel too bad, besides it seems the feeling's a bit mutual on your end as well." Danny said hinting towards Arcee with her display of distrust earlier.

Bee beeped something that sounded like "Arcee."

Danny nodded "bingo bud. Just gotta earn my trust as well as yours, shouldn't be too hard right?" floating a bit closer Danny patted his arm in comfort but was overcome with a yawn "okay... First step." When he received a raised eyebrow in reply Danny spread his jello feeling arms out wide like an eagle as he floating directly in front of him.

"Catch me?"

Danny fell forward, body lax before landing into two supporting hands just as he suspected the bot would. Making himself a bit more comfortable in the scout's hold plopping himself onto his back before yawning tiredly "see Bee? your gonna get there in no time. I'm just gonna rest my eyes a bit down here m'kay?"

"Sure." Bumblebee beeped in agreement, cupping his hands a bit more to make the ghost comfortable "let's get back to the others."

Danny gave a thumbs up, feeling too tired to answer. Bumblebee walked steadily, taking tedious steps since his sense of balance was still a bit off and not to jostle Danny any further. After walking in quiet silence for a good portion of time, Bumblebee couldn't really stand it anymore so he decided to start up a conversation "sooo... I've been wondering something."

When Danny made a "hmm?" sound he continued "how can you understand me? I've been wondering this since when we first met, I mean Raf's the only human so far that's been able to understand me, while everyone else, well doesn't. Is it because your a ghost?"

Danny hummed thoughtfully contemplating the question, pondering on how to word it. "Well, I don't really know how to explain it."

"Then try the best you can?"

Danny nodded "well it's something like... Well your voice is- uh..." Danny paused "I guess your voice is sorta like music, you know? each note holding a sound giving it meaning, like techno. If you listen, like really listen, you can almost hear the words depending on the frequency of the sound. Tu- I mean a friend explained it to me, before I never realized it was there until they mentioned it. And a ghost's hearing is pretty good, like really good better then your average human so I can pick up on them a bit better, but I still have trouble understanding everything." Danny explain, his hands moved animatedly like he was trying to illustrate his thoughts better "like for instance, if you say a short sentence then it's pretty easy for me to understand, but longer ones with long words are harder, I understand most of it but the rest is lost in translation. So I guess you could say I understand you sixty eight percent of the time? I dunno, like I said it's kinda hard for me to explain."

"Oh." Bumblebee whirred a bit sadly, before brightening up "well I guess sixty eight percent of the time is better then nothing."

"Yeah" Danny agreed "but Raf? now he's something special, even without enhanced hearing he can understand like it's nothing. He must be bilingual or born part Cybertronian or something." Danny said with a smile.

"He is special" Bumblebee said in agreement, Phantom could tell that he was smiling by how his optics looked.

After a good minute Danny spoke up again "hey, I never got to thank you, for the ya know, encouragement back there? I really appreciate it."

Bumblebee just shrugged the best he could so not to aggravate his injuries further "no problemo" Bumblebee paused mid step when he saw sunlight ahead.

"Hey look, we've reached the exit."

Danny peaked an eye open "think Smokescreen's gonna be jealous over our 'little bonding' moment?" though tired the joking tone was evident.

Bee shrugged equally amused "hmm, probably."

Danny feign a sigh "oh woe is me, I keep dismissing's his obvious affection for moi, but imagine the rage he'll become if he found out I was seeing another bot." Danny gave an exaggerated gasp "he'll whisk me away to place where the sun never shines! a dusty cage! and the worst kind of torture, the tickling's of feathers!"

Bumblebee made a laughing beep before joining in with a serious tone "Tis a fate that I will prevent from happening, distressed Phantom, I shall duel him to they death to defend your honor." They laughed at the absurdity of the situation while mentally questioning their own sanity.

"So when did you learn about Shakespeare?"

"the children were studying for history assignment and were reading out loud, they kept talking weird like that until we asked."

"Ah."

~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~

Smokescreen was watching over their leader like asked, studying for any changes in his condition. He had turned him over to his uninjured side to slow the bleeding, he really wanted that bridge to appear right now so he could look for their missing friend and ally. Smokescreen found it hard to focus and sit still resorting to twitching fingers and tapping pedes. He needed to do something, anything. He was pumped and ready for action he just wanted to help do something to put everyone's unease to rest. Plus earn back Optimus Prime's trust so he can be proud of me again.

So ever since Arcee left to get help, Smokescreen's been asking Bulkhead if there was any sign of them, only problem was: every ten seconds.

"See them yet?"

"No sign of them."

"...How about now?"

"No."

"Anything now?"

A sighed "not yet."

"Now?"

"Nothing." Primus, was Bulkhead's patience running thin.

"How about n-"

"There's nothing there Smokescreen, if I noticed anything I would've sa-" then Bulkhead paused, Smokescreen realized as he ceased his redundant movements. "What the-? the fire stopped."

That sent Smokescreen leaping to his pedes in an instant "what? what do you mean it stopped? it couldn't of just come to a complete halt just like that." Running towards the ledge and peered over towards the scorched cave entrance as his optics widen in surprise. "Whoa..." He whispered, taken back with utter amazement.
Sizzling steam flooded out of the mouth of the cave, and if you really looked you could make out what looked to be frost patterns edging along the rock structure.

"How is that even possible?" Bulkhead questioned out loud as Smokescreen's face split into a huge grin.

"It's Phantom! it has to be, it's the only explanation I can think of."

Before Smokescreen could take off into the ravine to investigate further Bulkhead stopped him "kid wait."

Smokescreen turned around, a questioning brow raised "what?" he was itching to get down there and look for them.

"What if it isn't? what if it's some type of con trap set up? we need to wait a bit and see what happens before you go down there."

"Aw come on!" Smokescreen whined "they might be seriously injured and need me to come get them, I'll be careful!" but Bulkhead wasn't budging

"If there's trouble I won't be able to back you up." He was hinting towards his inability to move properly due to his damaged leg, he was currently sitting down so not to injure it further.

"But I don't need back up, I can handle it." Persisted Smokescreen.

"I'm not letting you take that risk, I doubt Optimus would want you to either."

Smokescreen crossed his arms in a huff facing away from the other bot in a bit of pouting, turning his focus back on the cave entrance just as his optics widen, there was movement in the darkness! "Bulkhead!-"

"The answer is still no."

"What? no! there's someone moving around in there and their coming our way." He reported before a mischievous smirk settled on his face, "well see ya later Bulk, this bot is going to investigate and get some answers." Flashing a cheesy solute, Smokescreen was bounding down the rocky incline in a instant, skidding through the dirt patches and sidestepping the jagged stony pathway.
"Smokescreen get back here!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Uh, what was that? I can't hear you over the sound of my heavy breathing!" He yelled back, mimicking a human's irregular breathing pattern to the best of his ability. "See?"

"Cut the scrap, you know we don't need to breathe!" Bulkhead shouted again but it feel on deaf ears, Smokescreen was already in the bottom of the the clearing to really care.

Avoiding the patches of fire that lingered on the dry clumps of grass and corpses of burnt Vehicons, he made his way by the front entrance just a dusty yellow, covered in scorch marks came into view. "Bumblebee! your alive!" Smokescreen exclaimed enthusiastically, the worry he was feeling instantly disappeared and was replaced with solace as he slapped Bee good naturally on the back causing him to lurch forward a bit.

Bumblebee made a distressful beep, his face contorted into a pained wince making Smokescreen flinch at his unintentional action. Now examining him over properly he noticed the drooped crushed doorwings dripping energon, the dented metal plating on his back meant that it could be cutting into some sensitive wires and circuitry as well as some energon cables. Conclusion: very painful.

Bumblebee glared at him before buzzing a bit angrily "ow! watch it Smokey! that hurts."

Smokescreen smiled apologetically "sorry?" he offered "so um... How you feeling?" when Bumblebee shot him a deadpanned look, Smokescreen sighed "right, stupid question. But I really didn't mean to do that, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have done it if I knew you were hurt."

Bumblebee sighed the annoyance he was feeling away and forgave him, Smokescreen may be a bit brash sometimes, okay, well most of the time, but his spark was in the right place especially when he was trying to bring your spirits up. "It's okay. Did everyone make it to safety?" Bee asked looking directly at the rookie, concern evident on his face.

Smokescreen quickly nodded in reassurance "yup! maybe with a few dings and dents but otherwise made it out fine, mostly thanks to me and Arcee, but mostly me." He stated proudly at his accomplishment, feeling quite happy with himself before he frowned in realization.

"Hey wait a sec, someone's missing from your party here... Where'd Spooky-butt go?"

Bumblebee's mood brighten as he snickered at the nickname before showing his clasped hands, curious Smokescreen peeked inside and spotted the missing teen sprawled out onto his back with his eyes closed and his legs dangling over the supporting fingers "oh scrap is he- well technically he's already dead so would that make deader roadkill?"

"I have no idea how to answer the last one, but he's as much alive as was before currently."

"Then how come his eyes are closed?"

"Phantom got tired; he's resting."

Then one of Danny's eyes slid open- totally not like one of those doll horror movies; nope- and managed a small glare "dude, shu'dup. 'M resting ma eyes, and stop p'it with the nicknames and your horrible assumptions on how deaf woks." Though the sentence was slurred slightly, it was still intelligible.

Smokescreen feign a gasp of surprise "it lives!" but all he got as a response was a grunt from Danny before draping an arm over his eyes and Bee shaking his head in amusement. Smokescreen's pout returned "well hello to you too sleeping beauty, though not much on the beauty part."

Danny looked like he was going to say something but gave up with a groan. "I'm too tired to even come up with something sarcastic."

Smokescreen frowned at the loss of his banter buddy before shrugging. Oh well, when you lose one target of entertainment you move onto the next one. Ooooh Bumblebee! still in a humorous mood, he turned his sights on the scout "oh great, now he's broken. You drained him of all his bantering with didn't you? I left him on a full tank of it when I let you borrow him, that's just cold, real cold."

Bumblebee joined in on the cheery mood when he decided to play along "that's right, and I'm going to use this new found knowledge to get you back when you lease expect it, you shall get pun-ished, haha, get it?" He beeped cheerfully until a sharp pain shot up in his back "right after I see Ratchet." Bee finished barely being able to conceal a wince.

Smokescreen nodded in agreement before reaching over and patting Bee on the head "sure you will, little chubby cheeks."

Smokescreen instantly perked up with a grin when he heard Danny's snickers "pfftt, he called you chubby cheeks."

Bumblebee gave an indignant huff as he rolled his optics "traitor."

"Well you pretty much agreed that I was broken."

"Touche"

Smokescreen decided to cut in "Besides, you wouldn't dare pun me into oblivion, I have leverage."

"What leverage?"

"Photographic evidence of what transpired last week."

"I don't care on who sees it."

"Okay um... Oh! what if I show it to the cons, or perhaps Soundwave! that way it can be forever documented!"

"What!? but your in that photo as well!"

"If I go down, we both go down Bee. I'll gladly burn along with you if it means payback."

"Your insane."

"Am I? or maybe it is I who is sane and your not."

"I mean your insane to think you'll be able to get that phone away from Miko, she'll turn into a vicious scraplet if something happens to any of those photos on there. She got a picture of Jack picking his nose in there, once he found out and tried to delete it, she- I swear to Primus that girl almost bit his finger off, her exact words were: 'if anyone ever tries to delete any of my pictures, they'll lose an appendage.' Either way your screwed."

"Scrap."

"Hold on sec; what photo?" Danny was at a loss of what they were talking about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though it was a bit difficult, they made it up the ridge without further injury. Bumblebee made certain his secure hold never faltered as to not jostle the young ghost's injuries as well. Sneaking a glance at the quiet teenager he took in his content demeanor, Danny seemed pretty relaxed if the drooping eyelids and drool was anything to go by. Bee saw the scorched flesh on his shoulder, it was still dripping that weird glowing green substance he had to assume was a form of blood, the mere sight of it and weird smell made his tanks churn nauseously. He just hoped Danny hasn't lost enough yet for it to be fatal. Bumblebee scanned the group and was relieved to find everyone there just as Arcee returned. Upon noticing him she sighed and gave a small smile.

"You guys made it out in one piece!" Bulkhead applauded, Bumblebee scoffed

"What? do you doubt my ability to survive after all these years of fighting cons? it takes much more then that for me to be pushing up lug nuts." He replied jokingly, everyone just shook their heads.

"How do you even survive from being blown up?" Arcee mused out loud.

"You need ghost powers, a positive attitude and duct tape." Danny piped up.

"But we didn't have duct tape." Bumblebee pointed out, it makes you wonder just what goes through that kid's head.

"I know." he replied in a eerie whisper, just how those two words were said sounded like horror movie material leaving you feeling perturbed.

Everyone was staring at the teenager warily before Smokescreen waved them off "don't worry; Bumble-bum here broke him, I'm sure he'll reset to his factory settings in a few hours."

"I didn't break him." Bumblebee protested.

"Sure..." Smokescreen answered.

"Ugh, enough guys, stop saying I'm broken; I'd already told you I'm tired." Danny cut in before a absurd argument could break out "Also, see Arcee? I told you I was going to get him out of there, and I did- well we mostly got each other out in a way if you want to get technical but I stick to my promises as best as I can." He reminded a bit smugly but it was ruined when he couldn't suppress a yawn. Nonetheless Arcee tilted her head a bit in a considering matter.

"I guess you did. Thanks." Arcee said genuinely.

Danny smiled "anytime. Maybe now you can trust me, at least a little bit?"

Arcee gave a small smile in return "we'll see."

"I guess we will. But lets look on the bright side of things though, at least now I don't need to work on my tan this summer." Danny pointed out before letting out a small gasp. A flash of light followed by a bright icy ring appeared around his midsection stunning everyone (who was conscious anyway) into silence, staring at it with apprehension. Danny bit his lip and screwed his eyes shut, grunting with strain as he forced the rings away leaving him panting. Just as quick as it came it disappeared with a flash of light.

Everyone was quiet; having no idea on what to say about that abrupt little light show, they didn't know how to approach the unknown matter until Smokescreen spoke up "okay I think I'm saying this from everyone when I say this: what the heck was that?" Everyone nodded in agreement. Danny said nothing, remaining quiet as he tried to reclaim his breath. Finally he spoke.

"It's like a alarm clock, just an early warning if I don't get some rest soon, that's all."

Before anyone could question him further, the ground bridge appeared humming with that familiar electrical current. "Looks like our ride's here." Bulkhead announced. Deciding it was best to just drop the subject and just get everyone medical help, Smokescreen resumed his post as Bulkhead's crutch and Arcee to Optimus's.

When they made it through Ratchet rushed over to them just as the vortex died away, medical kit in hand. Seeing Optimus starting to stir a bit, he and Arcee helped get him towards the med bay and onto a berth. Pulling out a scanner Ratchet ran it over their leader to see just how severe the damage was. Ratchet sighed with relief when he saw that the sharp stone that had penetrated through the red and blue mech's armor plating just scraped a energon cable, enough to have it leak out in considerable amounts which meant that Optimus was not suffering energon loss, most likely from a blow to the head which put him unconscious.

Nonetheless, he still had a patient to attend to. After retrieving the medical tape and healing lubricant, he spread the glowing gel into his punctured side before patching up the wound, he moved over to the medical supply closet and pulled out something that resembled a Nasojejunal Feeding Tube for Cybertronians that fed energon straight into the body if the patient couldn't do so themselves. Ratchet was just finishing attaching the tubes to Optimus's chest when Arcee handed him the recently refined liquidized fuel, sending her a quick grateful nod he took the vial and attached it to the device and turned the machine on.

Okay, next one is... He thought silently as he scanned the group of injured bots...Bulkhead.

When he saw the mech's sparking foot his optics widen in disbelief "Bulkhead! you dodged the bullet last time at almost becoming handicapped when you were exposed to the Tox-En! It was a miracle that you were able to walk and transform again, the damage better not be too serious or you might not be so lucky this time." Ratchet scolded crossly before kneeling down by the seated Autobot and examined him to see what he was dealing with.

"Sorry Ratch, " Bulkhead apologized, all that was heard in response was Ratchet's unintelligible mutterings.

Bumblebee shifted nervously in his spot on a unoccupied berth, it was only a matter of time before it was his turn to face the medic's wrath. Smokescreen made his way over to him, making him wonder if he was here to see him or Danny given their previous conversation.

"You know, I was a bit disappointed at first when I couldn't go with you guys." He said mostly to himself, seeming transfixed with Ratchet's work. Bumblebee arched an eyebrow implying for him to continue. After a few silent seconds Smokescreen smirked, turning to face Bee he said "now I'm glad I didn't; if I got injured I'll have to deal with Ratch's anger."

"Gee, thanks a lot for the encouragement." Bumblebee muttered sarcastically. Bee wasn't for sure if Smokey took it seriously or he was being sarcastic also "anytime." He said cheerfully before taking off with a skip to his step. That son of a glitch.

"Doesn't look too bad, a few severed wires but nothing a few nights rest won't heal." Ratchet stated as he finished bandaging the last wires.

All the sudden Miko appeared on Bulkhead's shoulder, how she got up there so quickly without anyone noticing was beyond them "does this mean were still up for the 'battle of the bands'?" She asked hopefully, maybe their plans weren't going to be jeopardized after all.

"When is it?"

"err...Tonight?"

"Then no, I already said with a few nights rest."

Miko and Bulkhead groaned disappointingly in sync, plopping down onto her stomach on her perch her mood instantly becoming downcast again like earlier.

Optimus was finally sitting upright just as Arcee finished explaining to him on what happened, he nodded in understanding, when he moved to get off the berth Ratchet immediately shot up, "eh yep, yep, yep! your not cleared to leave the med bay, I still need to check for processor damage."

Optimus Prime nodded, though hesitantly, in understanding just as the monitor beeped with a incoming call from-wait for it,- Agent Fowler. No big surprise there seeing as he's the only one who contacts us. Bumblebee mused dryly before he blinked in realization, which is actually kinda sad, it makes it sound like we don't have friends. Danny groaned and covered his ears at the noise.

"*Prime!*" Primus, here we go again.

"What is it Agent Fowler?" came the ever so polite reply from your's truly; Optimus Prime.

"*I've got reports from General Bryce stating the cons broke into a research facility that goes by the name of Axion labs in Florida.*" Danny's head shot up at that, but since Fowler was in a bad mood (again) it was probably best that he didn't see Danny. Bumblebee took his thumb and gently pushed Danny's head back down.

"Hey! I was watching that!" the ghost teen whispered harshly, but Bee ignored him as he listened in again to what Fowler was saying.

"*...sent some field agent's in to investigate and discovered that the cons stole a green chunk of rock that they were studying, something called Ectoranium along with some research files.*" Phantom's head instantly shot up again which he continuously pushed back down.

"Stay down." Bee whispered just as Ratchet came over and began fixing his injuries.

"Move your doorwings." He instructed, Bumblebee complied. Only managing to lift the appendages up a bit before cringing in pain. Ratchet nodded as he swiftly got to work pulling out a blow torch.

"And how do you know it was the cons?" Arcee asked "after all they just tried to blow us up."

"*Because there was a giant bot-sized hole on the side of the building along with some graffiti dedicated to you all: Decepticons rule, Auto-butts suck, having fun being blown up? The Autobots are bunch of scraped up scrap and Phantom is just a reject. The last one didn't make much sense but it had con written all over it; literally.*"

"The activity at the caves were a distraction." Optimus analysed as his expression turned grim.

"To steal from that research facility." Ratchet continued his thought process catching on.

"But for what?" Arcee questioned placing her hand on her chin, pondering.

"Who cares what they took it for, they're cons! what ever they plan to do with it equals bad news." Smokescreen said putting his two cents in on the topic as he tossed his arms into the air.

"*What did you expect? the cons to take a break and throw a picnic up in the clouds on that ugly ship? when you figure it out, get into contact with me Prime, General Bryce is going to have my hide if he doesn't get information soon, the next thing we need is another Doom's Day device being built. Fowler out.*" The communications window closed out ending the video transmission, returning the screens on the monitors back to normal.

"Great. Now that that's over, does anyone have anyone aloe?" Danny spoke up as he pushed the thumb that was hiding his head away. "Okay anything for burns? anything?"

Ratchet finished wrapping his doorwings having them set properly so they could heal, at Phantom's question he went to examine him as well whiling asking "what's this about burns?" Bumblebee lifted Danny upwards so the doctor could get a better look at him, Danny's eyes widen a fraction when he got a face full of Ratchet.

"Um...Yeah. Got burnt a bit when a Decepticon blasted it. I just want to put something on it like healing cream so it could speed up the healing process soo...Yeah."

Ratchet nodded in understanding "Rafael, can you get the medical kit that Ms. Darby left behind when she last visited?" nodding back, Raf went to go retrieve the requested item. A minute later he came back with the bag and pulled out a bottle filled with the ointment.

Miko came running over "can I help?" she asked. Personally in Bee's opinion he would prefer Jack to do it since his mother was a doctor; but seeing how Jack mysteriously disappeared, Miko could be the next candidate...

Ratchet shrugged looking towards Danny who gave a nod "sure, I don't see why not."

Bumblebee lowered his hands towards the railing just as Miko made it up the steps, Danny turned his back towards her so she could put it on "Whoa, talk about gore; it's all greenish and blistered!" She announced in awe.

Bee wasn't for sure how he should feel about this.

"Yeah yeah, I'm wounded; can you speed it up?"

Miko bit her lip, trying to figure out how she should put it on. She noticed that some of the spandex from his jumpsuit was melted into the flesh a bit so she tried to peel it back. Keyword: tried. Danny let out a pained cry before it became muffled, making her immediately draw back. "Dude! your suit burned onto you. You need to take it off." Danny grumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" Miko asked.

"I said I'm not gonna be naked."

Miko rolled her eyes "no duh! just take off the top part of your shirt or something so I could this stuff on you."

Danny's cheeks brighten a light red color, before reaching up to the collar of his jumpsuit to reveal a zipper. He pulled it down enough so he could pull his shoulder out. Miko reached over and began to peel back the spandex, ignoring the faint hiss that left the teenager's mouth until it showed the injured flesh. Luckily, it peeled out cleanly leaving none of the fabric behind. "I feel so exposed." She heard him mutter.

Dabbing the green blood up with a cottoned cloth she squirted a decent amount of the ointment into her palm before smearing it onto the charred flesh. When she was finished, she whipped out a band aid and placed it over the wound. "There! finished, no need to be such a baby." she snickered lightly as she handed the bottle back to Raf. Danny huffed before zipping his suit back up.

Trying to rein in whatever shred of dignity he had left, Danny clasped his hands together." Okay, that was fun. But I should really be going, I need to put Boxy back into his proper home and I need to get some sleep." Wow, Bumblebee was surprised that device was still attached to the boy's hip given all the action that they went through today.

"Aww." Smokescreen whined "but I was just starting to enjoy having you around! can't you stay for a few more minutes? or perhaps you could stay the night!" he suggested. But Phantom declined with a shake of his head.

"Nope, sorry. Besides I sleep better at home anyways."

"How are we supposed to contact you?" Smokescreen asked.

"As much as I loved your way of kidnapping, I have a cellphone; any of you got a contact number I could call?" he asked.

"May I see?" Raf asked uncertainly. When Danny nodded and handed him the device, Raf began typing the keypad, fingers flying across the numbers before he handed it back. Danny's eye's widen before he let out a low whistle. Somehow the kid managed to implant the com. frequency of each bot with their names listed into his phone within a matter of seconds.

"Whoa, call me impressed. Your remind me of one of my friends." Phantom complimented as he scrolled through the list.

Raf adjusted his glasses sheepishly "uh thanks."

"So where should I send you?" Ratchet asked as he walked over to the ground bridge's controls.

"Can you send me right outside of the town of Jasper Nevada?" The whole room froze.

"What business do you have in that town?" Arcee asked, her gaze was calculating, like a hunter staring down it's prey.

"umm... I need to grab something to eat and check the town for any invading ghosts. Why?"

"Err... No reason." Smokescreen quickly lied.

"Hmm..." Danny hummed before shrugging. The ground bridge fired up again signaling for him to take his leave. Taking flight, though he stumbled still whilst airborne, he floated in front of the portal, before turning around to face them "thanks, for having me and all. It was fun! can't wait to visit again so... See ya guys!" He waved. He received waves and nods in response as well as few goodbyes.

Nodding back, Danny went through the portal and after a second or two before it died away when Ratchet pulled the lever back up.

"Darn I'm gonna miss that ghost kid. Oh well, now that he's gone I can think of new ways to prank him back!" Smokescreen said brightly, but after seeing Ratchet glare at him he quickly corrected himself "I meanwelcome, welcome him back; that's totally what I said. Nothing to do with pranks."

Just then Jack strolled into the room from the direction of the human's restroom. "Hey guys your back." Seeming to sense something was off he asked "what did I miss?"

~~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

Danny flew through the portal just as it closed behind him, and with annoyance he noticed that it was still raining. Danny sighed "better get back home while I still can."

He flew upwards heading for the town, his progress had slowed down greatly due to his weaken state. Geez, is every time I hang out with them am I gonna walk away injured? he wondered briefly. It was raining hard plastering his bangs in front of his eyes and stinging the scratches adorning his lithe frame, he spat out a few pieces of the stray hair but it didn't really make a difference. After a half minute away from the town, Danny's bad luck came back with a vengeance, his transformation rings appeared. And since he refused to let them revert him back into human form before, there was no stopping them this time. Danny fell to the earth bellow at a breathtaking speed, just as a scream of fear tore through his vocals. He forgot all about the fact that his powers were failing.

He didn't know what was worse; free falling without out a means to stop or waiting for the impending pain that was upon him.

Finally he crashed. Though fortunately and unfortunately he landed into a mud puddle, it soften the impact a bit but now he was covered in it. Danny stood up shakily and swatted some of the mud off with a groan "great, just my luck." Giving up on trying to remove the excess mud he focused on getting into town and began the tiring trek.

The walk was uneventful before he finally made it to his first destination; now onto the second which would be home.

Walking home in the rain was just as depressing as it sounded, the cold water soaked you to the bone, his injuries felt like burning acid when the rain washed into them, the sky was dark and it got harder to see through the shower of water and wet black bangs and-wait. Were those headlights coming towards him? oh he hoped none of the bots decided to follow him.

But to his relief and horror as he squinted through the unexpected light, was his parents. And boy did they look angry.

Oh man, he was so dead.

His mother opened the passenger door and jumped out, storming towards him, pun intended. "Uh... Hi Mom." Danny said nervously, but shrank back a bit under his mom's intense glare. He didn't care how scary Megatron thought he was, under his mom's glare he was bound to crumble at some point.

"Oh don't 'hi Mom' me young man! where were you!? you didn't even ask to leave the house! do you realize what time it is? or how many times I called you?"

Ummm... seven o'clock?

She received no answer when Danny just stared at his feet seeming to find them more interesting. "Get in the RV." Maddie commanded. No need to tell him twice, walking at a fast pace he opened the side door to the RV and hopped in the backseat. His Mom soon followed as she slipped back into the passenger seat, at least now he could be grateful for the mud masking his injuries and the fact he was dusted in ash. Jack turned in reverse and backed up, before turning the other way and heading back home, amazingly enough driving safely for once. It was quiet, no one said anything. Danny could feel his parents outbursts coming soon and the suspense was killing him.

Finally his father spoke "Danny, do you realize how worried you had your mother and I?" Danny looked down at his lap guiltily. "We thought another ghost kidnapped you again and ripped your face off!"

Well your not wrong on being kidnapped...

"We spent hours looking for you! we tried to call you but you never picked up. Did you lose it?" his mother questioned. Danny mutely shook his head. "Then where is it? show it to me." He fished around in his pocket until he pulled it out and showed it to his mom, not daring to face her. "Oh look at that sweetie... Eighteen missed calls!" Danny flinched at her shout as he took his phone back. Stupid cell service.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Jack demanded in that booming voice of his. "Well?" Maddie pestered. Danny chewed the inside of his cheek, there was no way he could tell them what he did today without blowing his or the bot's secret, and he was too tired to even come up with a good excuse.

"Answer your parent's when they talk to you!" Jack shouted, he was getting fed up with his son's silence. When he still didn't answer, that was the last straw. "Daniel James Fenton! you are grounded!" Maddie announced.

Danny had to bite his tongue when he almost shouted out 'that's not fair!'. Instead he continued to sit quietly in the backseat watching water droplets drip from his body. Danny turned on his phone and went through his messages quietly, applying light pressure to the buttons so it wouldn't make that audible 'click'. After scanning through them for a few minutes, he was surprised to see a text message from Tucker, he selected to open it.

*Dude, we haven't heard from you in awhile, are you alright man?*

He silently typed back a message.

*I'm fine, aside from almost being barbecued. hashtags: Explosion, got grounded and smiley face.*

The drive through the rain was in even more silence. For how long? Danny stopped looking at the clock when he realized it was nine p.m.. So he just listened to rain continue to pour outside, the tires splashing through puddles making that weird sound against the metal of the RV. It was then Danny heard his mother whisper to herself "oh Danny...Just what am I going to do with you?"

If the sharp knife of guilt in his stomach wasn't plunged deep enough yet, those words sure did the trick.

I'm sorry.

Danny looked away sadly, the feeling of his throat tightening with emotion made him almost choke.

Sometimes having ghost powers was extraordinary, it gave him breathtaking experiences that other's could only dream of having...

While at other times, they were just not worth all the pain and sorrow they bought.

He sighed as he watched the rain patter against the window, it's sound echoing in his ears as he fell into a daze. It was just not his week.

Sup, I'm just chilling down here with my big tub of fluff. Did anyone spot any references? (I saw Young Justice and loved it.) Sorry, his secret isn't being revealed just yet, and I'm apologizing as well if Ratchet's medical examine things sucked. I'm no doctor ^^*

So, Danny's in trouble now, the bots need bed rest plus find out the cons plan. Bet no one can figure it out XD also quick question: what's your favorite chapter so far (minus all the spelling mishaps, it mostly occurs when I copy and paste my story)? favorite moment?

Positive reviews makes me write faster!