OH MY GOSH! Okay, so I realized while I was working on rewriting the next chapter, that I had totally skipped over the episode Loose Canons in my original story. Well, it's time to remedy that. Also, I want to give a HUGE shout out to my incredible friend, Kristen Verne, for helping me brainstorm this chapter! She is an awesome author and you should totally check out her work. Anyways, back to the story. I hope you enjoy this brand spanking new chapter!

Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields and Chase Sanders. Electra belongs to my sister.

Movie Anyone?

This chapter corresponds to the episode "Loose Canons"

A couple weeks had passed since the whole 'T-Cog incident", and for the most part, life had gone completely back to normal. Well, you know, as normal as things can be when living in a military base with a bunch of alien robots.

Wild stuff was usually happening. Sometimes it was Bulkhead and Bumblebee Lobbing (which, for the uninitiated, is just chucking a massive ball of scrap metal at each other), other times, it was one of Ratchet's experiments going absolutely haywire. Reese never really knew what she was going to walk into when coming into the main room of the base.

Today, Reese walked in to find Agent Fowler angrily chewing Optimus out over video call.

"What in blazes are your people doing out here? We had an agreement; no collateral damage!"

"I'm sorry Agent Fowler, but all autobots are present and accounted for."

"Then explain to me why I'm getting reports of two jumbo sized bots mixing it up 20 miles outside Omaha?" Fowler didn't sound convinced.

"Might be decepticons. There has been a lot of infighting lately. Seems Megatron can't even keep his own ranks in line," Arcee offered.

"Well, I'm arriving on scene now. Have a look for yourselves." Fowler pulled up a visual on the computer screen.

There was a lot of smoke and debris, but despite this, everyone could still make out two bots fighting each other. Reese didn't recognize either of them, but the autobots did.

"Is that… Skyquake?" Bulkhead peered at the screen dubiously. "No, it can't be. You and Bee pounded him into the ground ages ago."

"Well, until Starscream raised him from the dead as some terrorcon. But as far as we know, he's still wandering around in the shadow zone. Still, the real question is, who's the dance partner?" Arcee squinted at the screen. The other bot had been keeping his back to the camera, making it difficult to identify him.

"Give me a second, I'll try to get a clearer shot," Fowler offered, piloting his chopper so that the camera now faced the other bot.

"By the allspark, it is one of ours!" Ratchet exclaimed.

"Wheeljack? HAHA JACKIE'S BACK!" Bulkhead laughed happily.

"Who's Wheeljack?" Reese looked between the screen and the autobots, confusion lacing her features.

"He's an ol' buddy of mine from waaaay back!" Bulk explained, absolutely beside himself with excitement. "He's been out searching for autobot refugees. I wonder if he found any of the rest of the crew!"

"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln is back! We gotta get this contained before we end up on the 11 o'clock news!" Fowler didn't seem to share Bulkhead's excitement.

"Understood, we will take care of it," Optimus nodded, cutting off the communication line with Fowler.

"You're gonna love Jackie, Reese! Just you wait and see!" Bulkhead grinned as Ratchet fired up the groundbridge.

"If you say so," Reese smiled, but she had her doubts, especially seeing how nobody else seemed quite as excited as Bulkhead to find out that Wheeljack was back.

The team headed out, leaving Ratchet, Reese, and the kids back at base. As soon as they were gone, Miko started rushing around, looking for something.

"Whatcha looking for, Miko?" Reese watched the girl curiously.

"I gotta show Wheeljack the newest guitar pick I got for my collection! He's gonna love it. I just can't seem to remember where I left my guitar case."

"It's probably in the rec room, where your amp is." Reese rolled her eyes, smiling with amusement at the girl's antics. "So, have you guys met Wheeljack before?"

"Heck yeah, he came by for a visit before you joined the team. Well, sort of, anyway. He kind of got captured by the decepticons and replaced with a shapeshifter, and it was the shapeshifter con that we ended up bringing back to base… that was an adventure. But yea, we got him back, and he's pretty cool. He and Bulkhead are like total bros," Miko gushed.

"Hold up, how come I've never heard this story before? The cons have a shapeshifter?"

"Had a shapeshifter. He's toast now. And as for why you never heard the story before, well, you never asked," Miko shrugged. "Like I said, it all went down before you even joined the team."

"Okay, so what exactly is Wheeljack like? I mean, I know he's Bulkhead's best bud, but that doesn't tell me about his personality."

"Well… he's a bit of a loner. And he isn't exactly one for rules," Raf said a little hesitantly. It seemed by the looks on Raf and Jack's faces that they didn't exactly find Wheeljack as amazing as Miko did.

"Oh boy," Reese folded her arms.

"well, maybe it would be best to just see for yourself when he gets here. We honestly don't know him too well, seeing how he wasn't here for very long after he escaped the cons."

"That's fair," Reese sighed. She wasn't sure whether she was going to like this bot or not, but she should at least give him a chance, right?

About that time, the team came back through the portal, Wheeljack bringing up the rear. He was holding his arm tenderly. It looked like he had a graze wound on his shoulder-plating.

"Over here, sit down so I can tend to your injuries," Ratchet said gruffly, motioning towards one of the medical berths.

Wheeljack sat down, somewhat reluctantly. He seemed really tense, at least in Reese's opinion.

Ratchet went to work welding the graze wound on Wheeljack's shoulder plating.

"Yow, take it easy doc. I need that arm!" Wheeljack yelled, pulling his arm away as Ratchet hit a particularly tender spot.

"Hold still and maybe you'll keep it," Ratchet said gruffly, not showing Wheeljack the least bit of concern.

The others stood around awkwardly in an uncomfortable silence. Optimus looked very serious… Had something happened?

Seeming to pick up on the tense atmosphere, Wheeljack spoke up. "Look, commander, sorry for the fireworks. It won't happen again, but I tracked Dreadwing across a hundred lightyears of space. I couldn't just let him go."

"I thought you were roaming the galaxy, looking for autobot refugees," Bulkhead looked confused.

"I was, until I found one. A wrecker…" Wheeljack trailed off, looking a little disheartened.

"Really?! Who?"

"Seaspray."

"HAHA! How is ol' barnacle butt?"

"Not so good, Bulk. Blown to bits, actually…"
"What? No…" Bulkhead stumbled back, as if the news had hit him like a slap in the face.

"This was Dreadwings' doing, wasn't it," Optimus glowered.

Wheeljack nodded. "My ship, the Jackhammer, picked up Seaspray's signal a couple of lightyears from Adaran. We made contact and arranged a rendezvous in the Andramadon system. Dreadwing must have intercepted the transmission, cuz he got to Seaspray first.

There was a proximity bomb planted on his ship. It was probably supposed to take us both out. Lucky for me, the Jackhammer can take a punch.

I picked up Dreadwing's ion trail and tracked it through a dozen solar systems before finally catching up with him. He ended up leading me right back to this marble. Some coincidence, huh?"

"I know of this Dreadwing. He was captain of a Seeker Armada back on Cybertron, and as such, much like his twin, Skyquake, he is fiercely loyal to the decepticon cause. He has no doubt traveled to Earth to pay his allegiance to his one true master, Megatron," Optimus vented seriously.

"Hope he's enjoying the visit; It'll be his last," Wheeljack stood up abruptly, knocking Ratchet aside.

"Wheeljack, this planet is heavily inhabited. Any strike we make against the decepticons must be carefully measured as a team, lest we risk endangering the human population," Optimus cautioned.

"Are you suggesting that we sit back and do nothing?" Wheeljack sounded flabbergasted.

"I'm saying that-"

"You! Loose Cannon! Your cowboy antics almost blew our cover!" Agent Fowler, who had just walked in, cut Optimus off.

"Cover?" Wheeljack sounded confused.

"Jackie, we're robots in disguise on this planet," Bulkhead explained. "You're gonna need an earth-based vehicle mode when you're here."

"That spaceship you shot down: NOT EARTH-BASED!" Fowler yelled. "I had to jump through some big hoops to get it hauled out of sight. You need to keep a tighter leash on your people, Prime."

"Did you just say a tighter leash? What am I to you, some kind of filthy animal? Let me clarify, Tiny, I'm not one of Optimus Prime's people." Wheeljack seethed right into Agent Fowler's face before stalking off.

"I'll talk to him… Uh, with your permission," Bulkhead looked between Wheeljack and Optimus.

"Of course," Optimus nodded.

"So, the new guy has a problem with authority, I see," Fowler grunted.

"Wheeljack and Bulkhead served together in the Wreckers, a combat unit that operated outside of the normal chain of command," Optimus explained.

"Hmmm… Black Ops," Fowler hummed understandingly.

"They accepted missions that nobody else would. And many of them did not come back," Optimus vented sadly, looking down the hall where Bulkhead was desperately trying to calm his buddy down.

Reese looked awkwardly between Optimus and Fowler, and Bulkhead and Wheeljack, the latter of which were heading upstairs now. She didn't really know what to say. Wheeljack seemed to have a chip on his shoulder about everything, but Reese could understand why. He had watched his friend get blown to smithereens. Who knew how many other bots he'd seen die?

"Well… um… what now?" Reese broke the silence that had fallen after Optimus' last statement.

"For now, we let Bulkhead talk things over with his friend. Wheeljack isn't exactly under my command, so there is not much I can do at this given time."

"Well, since we got all this free time, how about we go catch the latest movie they are playing at the drive-in theatre!" Miko piped up. "Who knows how long Bulk and Jackie's talk is gonna take, and I'm bored."

"Miko, maybe now isn't a good time to throw together and impromptu movie session," Reese ran her hand down her face.

"Actually… It might be nice to have some peace and quiet around here. Reese, go ahead, take the kids to watch their movie," Ratchet eyed Reese smugly.

"You did that on purpose," Reese glared at the medic.

"What? I don't know what you are talking about. I just figured it might be nice for the kids to get out and have some fun," Ratchet feigned innocence.

"MOVIE TIME!" Miko squealed happily. "This one is gonna be great! It's about these people that get bit by an infected rat from this secret laboratory. They turn into zombies and try to eat the brains of everybody in Manhattan!"

"Oh joy, sounds like such a thrill," Jack rolled his eyes.

"Don't be a spoil sport, Jack. It will be great. You agree with me Raf, right?"

"Uh… I don't know," Raf shifted uncomfortably between his feet. He didn't exactly want to get on Miko's bad side, but the sound of a b-list zombie movie wasn't exactly his idea of a good time.

"Sure you do! You are just too excited to explain properly your sheer enthusiasm. C'mon Reese, please take us, PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE!" Miko got down on her knees and begged.

"Fine, fine," Reese threw her hands up, "But I'm gonna need a car to drive. Bulkhead is with Wheeljack right now, and Bumblebee has patrol."

"You can take mine. I trust you to drive it." Fowler tossed his keys over to Reese.

"I don't know, Fowler. Maybe that isn't such a good idea. Miko is gonna want popcorn, and you know how messy that can get…" Reese caught the keys, eyeing them dubiously.

"I don't particularly care. If it gets too messy, just swing by the car wash, and get it cleaned out before bringing it back," Fowler shrugged.

"I promise to be super-duper careful with the popcorn," Miko stuck out her lower lip and gave Reese the best puppy dog eyes she could muster (which really weren't that convincing.

"Fine, if you're gonna go, then get in the car," Reese sighed, motioning to Fowler's little sedan.

"Sweeeeeet! I call shotgun!" Miko bolted for the car.

"Great…" Reese ran her hand down her face. Now, not only did she have to drive Miko to the drive-in theatre, but she was gonna have to deal with the girl screaming and being, well, Miko, in the passenger seat. Lovely. "Alright you two, get in the car too. I don't plan on being stuck taking care of Miko all on my lonesome." Reese turned to face Jack and Raf.

"I suppose that would be unfair, wouldn't it," Jack chuckled, walking over to the car and ushering Raf along with him.

"Indeed, it would, and I would never forgive you," Reese smirked back, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine. "You got the directions to this place, Miko?"

"Yep, already pulled it up on my phone. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Must you crunch your popcorn with your mouth open? It seriously detracts from this "spectacular" movie," Jack grumbled, glaring at Miko. Miko's smacking was more annoying than the cringy movie itself.

"Shhhhh, this part is getting really good. I think the main character's girlfriend is about to have her brains eaten!" Miko waved her hand dismissively in Jack's face.

"Ew…" Raf grimaced, looking a little pale. Reese was starting to think that maybe this movie was a bit too much for the young boy.

"Hey Raf, why don't we take this time to go for a bathroom break," Reese offered, seeing how Raf was now covering his ears and squinching his eye shut as the zombies on the screen began their feast.

"Yea, let's do that," Raf smiled gratefully at Reese.

"Your loss, this is film making at its finest," Miko shrugged, going back to her popcorn.

"Jack, you gotta go to the bathroom?" Reese glanced back at Jack in the rearview.

"Nah, I'm fine. Besides, somebody should probably stay behind to keep an eye on Miko."

"Okay, well, Raf and I will be back in a few minutes," Reese nodded understandingly, climbing out of the car.

She and Raf made their way over to a small concrete building which housed the bathrooms.

"Take your time, I have a feeling the brain eating is gonna last a while," Reese patted Raf on the back, pushing him lightly towards the boy's room.

"Next time, why don't you pick the movie," Raf sighed as he walked through the boy's room door.

"Yea, that would probably be best," Reese chuckled as she stood outside the small concrete building, surveying the crowd of cars that littered the lot of the drive-in cinema. There weren't very many, which wasn't entirely surprising. Not many people would spend their hard-earned money to watch some B-list zombie movie. One car in particular did stand out from the few that were there, though. It was red with white accents, and Reese couldn't help but feel like she had seen it somewhere before.

She left her spot against the concrete building and inched closer to the car to get a better look. The more she inspected it, the more familiar it seemed, but she still couldn't put her finger on where she had seen it before. Not to mention, she didn't know why, but something about the car made her uneasy.

She squinted to try and see who the driver was, and then everything fell into place. There was no driver. Just an empty red and white vehicle sitting in the drive-in theatre lot.

Reese immediately began thinking of any and all Cybertronians she had met who had a red and white colour scheme, and the only one who came to mind was Knockout, but what was a con doing at a drive-in theatre?

Her suspicions were confirmed when she got a closer look at the car next to the red and white one. It was a navy blue armored military vehicle. One that fit the build of Breakdown's vehicle mode.

Reese ran back to the little concrete bathroom building to find Raf standing outside the boy's room, looking a little perplexed.

"Where did you go? I came out and you were gone," Raf sounded a little upset.

"I'm sorry, I only stepped away for a moment. Besides, we have bigger problems. Knockout and Breakdown are here."

"What?!" Raf gasped as he took a closer look at the cars Reese was pointing at. "Should we call the bots?"

"I don't know yet. They don't seem to have noticed us. Maybe, if we just go back to our car like nothing ever happened, they will leave when the movie is done. Maybe they are just here to catch up on the most recent crappy movies."

"I don't know, that's kinda risky, don't you think?"

"Well what else do you suggest? We can't just go up to them and be like, "Yo, cons, wassup."

"No, but we could at least get one of the bots to come and keep an eye on them, make sure they don't do anything."

"What if they recognize the autobot who comes to check on us? That would definitely start a fight, and we can't exactly do that in a public place. I know this movie isn't the most popular, but there are still people here, and we can't let them find out that Cybertronians exist."

"I guess so," Raf sighed, sounding a little unconvinced.

"Let's just head back to the car and regroup with the others," Reese pinched the bridge of her nose. The night had already not been great, but this made things soooo much worse.

The two sneaked back to Fowler's little sedan and climbed in, locking the doors behind them, not that it would do much good should Knockout and Breakdown actually try to get them.

"What took you guys so long?" Jack quirked an eyebrow at Reese and Raf's tense faces.

"We are pretty sure we just saw Knockout and Breakdown in the theatre lot," Reese explained, turning around in her seat to face Jack.

"Wait what? Why would they be here?" Jack's brow furrowed.

"Maybe they're here for the movie. Which, if they are, I must say, they have good taste in films," Miko offered.

Reese let out an audible sigh.

"Maybe they will leave when the movie is over?" Jack asked.

"Well, I considered that, but what do we do if they don't?" Reese countered.

"We call the autobots," Jack shrugged.

"Maybe we should just leave," Raf shrank deeper into the backseat.

"You know, that would probably be the best plan of action. Best not to sit around and hope that the cons play nice," Reese agreed.

"But what about the movie? It's just getting to the climax!" Miko whined.

"Forget the movie, Miko, this is way more important. You can watch the movie another night." Jack rolled his eyes.

Reese started up the car, and prepared to back out, but unfortunately, the car was boxed in by other people who had come to watch the film.

"Scrap, these cars are blocking me. Now what do we do?"

"Uh… what if we just ended the movie early?" Raf suggested.

"And just how do you propose that we do that?" Reese asked.

"By hacking into the computer being used to play the movie," Raf stated matter-of-factly, as he pulled out his laptop and began typing away on the keys.

"You can do that?" Miko gaped.

"Sure, I just have to tap into the computer's network and voila, I'm in."

"Well, that's convenient." Jack mumbled, leaning over Raf's shoulder to watch him while he worked.

After a few minutes, Raf hit enter, and suddenly the projector shut down, bringing up an error message on the large theatre screen.

"We are having some technical difficulties and apologize for the inconvenience. As we are unsure when the projector will be back up and running, we regret to inform you that we will have to shut down the theatre for the night. Please contact the ticket office tomorrow for a full refund." One of the movie employees said over the intercom.

The sound of grumbling and curses echoed in the night air as people got back into their cars and exited the theatre lot.

Knockout and Breakdown did not leave the lot, though. Scrap.

"Why aren't they leaving?" Miko wondered aloud.

"Maybe they saw us?" Raf squeaked, ducking down below the window in the backseat.

"Only one way to find out," Reese sighed, a knot forming in her stomach. She started up the car and pulled out towards the exit of the theatre.

Knockout and Breakdown started their engines as well.

"Oh, they definitely know it's us," Jack muttered. "Time to call for back-up." He pulled out his phone and dialed the number for the base, but all he got was static. "Scrap, they're scrambling the signal!"

"Alrighty, time to get out of here," Reese stated matter-of-factly as she floored the gas pedal, sending the car flying out onto the main street of Jasper. "You guys might want to tighten your seatbelts; I can't promise that this will be a smooth ride."

The kids screamed as Reese sped down the road. Lucky for them, it was pretty late, and the roads were mostly empty.

She drifted around a couple corners before checking in the rearview to see if they were being pursued. Her stomach flipflopped at the sight of two sets of headlights closing in behind them.

"Frag! they're closing in! Anybody got any ideas? I can't drive around all night!"

"Uh, maybe double back to the drive-in theatre, we can ditch the car there and take cover in the woods nearby," Jack suggested.

"Well, it's better than nothing… Hold on tight, I'm about to make a sharp U-turn!" Reese warned as she quickly swung the car around. She jumped the curb of the sidewalk to drive past Knockout and Breakdown, who were hot on her tail. Hopefully her little stunt would put some space between her and them.

Back down the road they went, headed towards the parking lot of the drive-in theatre. Reese breathed a slight sigh of relief as she saw Knockout and Breakdown struggle to both do a U-turn on such a narrow street. That gave her and the kids at least a little breathing room.

"When we get to the lot, I'm gonna pull up to the tree line and y'all are gonna have to bail. I've put a little space between us and the cons, but it won't be long before they catch up."

"Dang, Reese, where did you learn to drive like that?" Miko gaped, turning around in the passenger seat so she could stare out the back windshield.

"Plant your little butt back in that seat! If I slam on the breaks, you're gonna die!" Reese screeched, grabbing Miko by the belt with one hand and yanking her back into a sitting position.

"Killjoy," Miko muttered, folding her arms.

Reese ignored the comment as she ran a red light, hoping there weren't any cops around to see her do it. She quickly pulled into the now empty theatre lot and drove up close to the tree line of the woods that lay just behind the large projection screen. She slammed on the breaks and turned the car off. "Okay everybody, Out, out, out!"

Without further prompting, everybody piled out of the car, making a mad dash into the woods just as Knockout and Breakdown pulled into the lot.

"lay low in some of these bushes, and stay quiet," Reese whispered, crouching down behind a particularly large bush.

"Do you think they saw us run in here?" Raf asked, white as a sheet.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Besides, with the car parked right on the edge of the woods, even if they didn't see us come in here, they could easily put two and two together. But don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," Jack crouched down beside Raf and put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Where did they go? The little pests abandoned their car," the kids heard Breakdown say.

"They probably took shelter in the woods, you idiot. The real question is how do we get them to come out?"

"I could always smoke them out by shooting a missile into the woods."

"That would probably kill them. Their squishy, remember? No, we need to find another way to get them."

"Well, they can't just stay in there forever. Why don't you sit here and watch this side? I will pull around and watch the other side. If they try to make a run for it, we can nab them."

"That's actually not a bad idea, Breakdown. Alright, go ahead and hurry on over to the other side," Knockout agreed with Breakdown's plan and transformed back into his vehicle form, shining his headlights into the woods.

"Scrap, their gonna try and wait until we make a move," Reese ran her hand down her face.

"Well, surely they can't stay there all night, right?" Raf inched closer to Reese, wrapping his arms tightly around his midsection.

"They can probably stay longer than we can. It's going to get progressively colder as the night drags on. Not to mention, all of your parents are going to wonder why you aren't home yet. It's already pretty late."

"Mom is going to ground me for life," Raf shook his head sadly.

"Well, if we can't just sit here until they leave, then we need to come up with a plan. Does anybody have any ideas?" Jack looked very serious.

"Jack, if we had ideas, we wouldn't be sitting here freezing our butts off in the woods, now would we?" Miko rolled her eyes.

"Miko, your sass is not appreciated right now," Reese glared at Miko sternly. "We are in a very dangerous situation. Check your adrenaline addiction at the door and start acting responsibly."

"Jeez, fine, fine. Gosh, you sound like such a mom," Miko held up her hands placatingly.

"Well, I am currently the oldest one here, and I'm the one responsible for all of your safety, so please, don't make my job harder than it needs to be," Reese sighed.

Miko looked a little annoyed but didn't say anything else.

"Hey, um… I don't know if this would be of any use, but I know there were quite a few construction supplies in the bathroom. I think they are in the process of remodeling them," Raf spoke up.

"Oh, that could be useful! What all was in there?" Reese crouched next to Raf.

"Well, some power tools, a bunch of tiles, and some cans of paint. You know, now that I think about it, maybe there isn't anything useful after all."

"Hold up, did you say cans of paint?" Jack butted in.

"Uh, yea… why?"

"Knockout's whole being revolves around his paintjob. If we can ruin it enough, maybe he will decide that capturing us isn't worth it after all," Jack clarified his idea for everybody.

"That's a great idea, Jack! Now, the question becomes, how do we get the paint without being spotted?" Reese tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"We need some kind of diversion, but what?" Jack rested his chin in his hands, his brow furrowing in concentration.

"I mean, we could always do the classic 'throw something and run while the cons go to investigate what we threw' tactic," Raf shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually… That gives me an idea," Jack's eyes lit up. "Throwing just one thing probably wouldn't be enough to distract the cons for long enough, but, if we could pelt them with a barrage of items…"

"I think I know where you are taking this, and let me just say, I'm a big fan," Miko grinned evilly.

"Hey Raf, are you afraid of heights?" Jack turned to Rafael, choosing to ignore Miko.

"Uh, a little, but not so much since I was able to climb to the top of the rope in gym class. Why?"

"I was just thinking, what if you climbed up in one of these trees and threw pinecones and rocks at the cons? That would probably distract them long enough for Miko, Reese, and I to make it to the building where the paint is being kept. Not to mention, it would keep you safely hidden in the cover of the trees."

"Uh, I don't know," Raf adjusted his glasses nervously.

"You know, that's the closest semblance to a plan we have got so far. Raf, don't worry, it should be fine, as long as you stay hidden in the trees." Reese gave Raf's shoulders an encouraging squeeze.

"Fine, I'll do it," Raf sighed.

"Alrighty, I will help you up into the tree. Miko, Jack, you two start collecting some pinecones, sticks, rocks, whatever you can find. Once Raf is securely situated in the tree, we can begin handing them up to him."

Jack and Miko nodded and began foraging around, while Reese gave Raf a boost into one of the trees. It was deep enough in the woods that he wouldn't be immediately spotted, but not so deep that Knockout, who was the closest of the two cons, was outside of throwing distance.

"Here's the stuff," Jack said as he and Miko came over, their arms full of pinecones and small rocks. They passed their ammo up to Raf, who stockpiled them in his lap.

"Alright Raf, we're going to sneak to the edge of the tree line. When we get close, you throw the first rock. Okay?" Reese looked up at Raf, perched precariously in the tree. He nodded back, looking quite wide eyed.

He watched the three as they stealthily crept through the bushes, inching their way closer to the tree line. Once they were close, he grabbed one of the rocks from his stockpile and threw it as hard as he could.

The rock flew forward, pinging off Knockout's windshield, leaving a small crack in the glass.

"What the!" Knockout growled in angry confusion just as the barrage began. Pinecones, rocks, and sticks flew towards him one after the other, leaving dents and scratches all over his windshield. Raf had pretty good aim.

Knockout transformed, glaring angrily into the trees. "Come out you little fleshbags! I'm sure you think you have the upper hand, but unlike you, we don't have to eat, so we can stay here all night if we have to!"

The only response Knockout got was more rocks and pinecones.

Raf's diversion worked like a charm. Knockout was glaring angrily into the woods, and Breakdown, who had come to investigate, was also distracted by Raf's attack. This gave the other three teens ample time to sneak into the small building where the bathrooms were housed. Inside, they found several buckets of white paint.

"This should do the trick," Reese grinned as she popped the lid off one of the paint buckets.

"So, what are we gonna do with it? Just run out and dump it on Knockout?" Miko asked.

"Nah, that would waste the paint if we missed. No, what we should do is dip our hands in the paint and leave lots of little handprints all over his finish. I can imagine that would be a pain to get cleaned up.

"Then we have a plan! Okay everybody, hands in the paint." Jack said, being the first one to plunge his hands into the bucket of paint. Reese and Miko followed suit.

Once all three teen's hands were covered in paint, they prepared for their ambush. Reese grabbed the paint bucket, so they could re-dip their hands if need be, and they headed for the door.

Outside, they found Knockout and Breakdown hacking away at some of the trees closest to the tree line!

"Scrap, well, it's now or never," Reese took the lead, running as fast as she could towards the two cons (which, admittedly wasn't very fast, since she was also carrying a full bucket of paint.)

Miko and Jack actually beat her to the cons, immediately slapping their paint covered hands onto the metal plating that covered Knockout's pedes.

"GHAA! What are you doing to my paint?!" Knockout shrieked. Miko and Jack narrowly missed getting kicked as he tried to shoo them away.

Then, it was Reese's turn. She dropped the bucket and ran forward, wiping her hands all over the backs of his legs.

"Why you little…" Knockout growled, reaching down, grabbing Reese by the middle, and lifting her up so that she was eye level with him. "You'll pay for that, little missy."

"Not today," Reese retorted, wiping paint right onto Knockout's optics.

"My Optics!" Knockout shrieked, dropping Reese.

Breakdown, who had been watching all of this go down like a deer in the headlights, suddenly came to his senses and began trying to snatch the kids.

"Oh no you don't!" Reese scrambled back to her feet and jumped in front of the kids. As Breakdown's arm got close, she punched it as hard as she could, leaving a sizable dent in his arm plating.

"Yow! Even with my enhancements, that still hurt," Reese shook her hand a little to get it to stop throbbing.

"Ha, was that supposed to hurt me? I barely felt it!" Breakdown bellowed.

"You are going to regret messing with us," Knockout growled again, rubbing most of the paint off his optics and then transforming his servos into drills.

"Scrap, this isn't how this was supposed to play out." Jack muttered.

"Well, it was worth a shot. Now, all we can do is RUN!" Reese pushed Miko and Jack forward, towards the tree line.

"Oh no you don't," Breakdown reached forward, blocking their path with his massive arm. "We have gone through too much to let you escape like that."

"Crud, now what?" Reese took a defensive stance in front of Jack and Miko, holding her arms out to try and shield them from the cons, not that it would do much good if they did try to grab them.

Just when they thought that nothing could save them, Bumblebee and Arcee came speeding around the corner and into the parking lot of the drive-in theatre, like some kind of Deus Ex Machina (1). Talk about perfect timing. As soon as they saw the cons, Bee and Cee transformed and aimed their blasters.

"Well, this just got a whole lot more complicated. Come on Breakdown, the fleshlings aren't worth my finish getting any more messed up than it already is. Let's roll," Knockout groaned, transforming into his vehicle form and peeling out of the lot, Breakdown right on his tail.

Bumblebee and Arcee rushed over to the teens, who were all extremely relieved to see them.

"Are you guys alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Bumblebee asked.

"No, they didn't, but boy are we glad to see you," Reese gave a sigh of relief.

"How did you know to come looking for us?" Jack asked.

"It's past midnight. You should have been home a long time ago. When you didn't come back, we started to worry. We tried calling your cellphones, but the signal wouldn't go through, so we came looking for you," Arcee explained, kneeling down so she could take a closer look at the kids. "Why are your hands covered in paint?"

"Uh…" Jack, Miko, and Reese all looked down at their paint covered hands, unsure of how to respond. In the moment, their plan had seemed flawless, but looking back at it, it was mostly just embarrassing.

"It's a long story," Reese sighed.

"I see…"

"Wait, where's Raf?" Bee whirred, looking around anxiously.

"Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about him! He's probably still stuck in that tree!" Reese facepalmed, forgetting for the moment that her hands were still covered in paint.

Jack chuckled, "Uh Reese, I think you have a little something on your face…"

"You don't say," Reese glared at Jack. If looks could kill, let me tell you…

"Why is Raf stuck in a tree?" Arcee quirked an eyebrow at Reese.

"Uh, that's another long story. For now, let's just go get him down." Reese dodged the question and ran off into the woods.

She ran back to the tree that she had left Raf in, and lo and behold, he was still there, holding onto the tree branch, white as a sheet.

"Hey Raf, you good?"

"I've been better," Raf called down.

"Do you need help getting down?"

"Please…"

"Okay, just jump. I'll catch you," Reese stood beneath the branch that Raf was clinging to and held out her arms.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Reese reassured.

"Okay, here I come," Raf warned as he leapt from the tree branch, landing in Reese's outstretched arms.

"Gotcha," Reese caught the boy and gently set him down on the ground. "Uh… oops. I got a little paint on your shirt. That probably isn't gonna come out…" She cringed a little as she took in the white paint smeared on Raf's orange vest.

"Don't worry about it," Raf chuckled, seemingly not put out in the least.

"Come on, then, let's get back to the others. Bumblebee and Arcee are here to take us back to base."

The two walked out of the woods and back up to the bots.

"You good, Raf?" Bee knelt down in front of Raf.

"Yep, I'm fine. Thanks," Raf smiled warmly.

"Alright, then let's get you kids home," Arcee nodded, before she and Bumblebee transformed.

"Don't mind me… I will just drive Fowler's car back to base," Reese said. "Though, I don't think he would be too happy to find white handprints all over the inside of his car… Does anybody have a cloth I can borrow?"

"Here, you can use my vest. There is no way this paint is coming out, so I would probably have to toss it anyways," Raf offered, taking off the orange vest that he always wore over his white button up shirt.

"Sorry again," Reese took the vest apologetically and wiped her hands on it.

"No worries. I have loads of vests just like it back at home." Raf shrugged nonchalantly.

"What a nerd," Miko snickered, which of course, earned her a flick on the forehead from Jack.

"Have a good night you guys," Reese waved as Miko and Raf climbed into Bumblebee's Alt mode, and Jack got onto Arcee.

The kids waved back as the two bots pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the main road to take the kids home.

"Well… tonight turned out to be scarier than the movie we watched," Reese mumbled to herself as she climbed into Fowler's car and started it up. "And even despite everything that happened, Miko didn't trash Fowler's car. I'm actually kind of impressed."

The drive back to base was short and uneventful. When she pulled in, Reese found Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack all congregated in the main room.

She parked the car and turned it off, climbing out with Raf's soiled sweater vest in hand.

"Sorry if I got any paint on the inside of your car… I tried to wipe most of it off my hands before getting in…" Reese tossed the keys back to Agent Fowler. "Also, I may have burned some of the tread on a couple of the tires… It's been a night."

"Wait, what happened?" Fowler looked utterly confused.

"Cons happened. But we made due until Bumblebee and Arcee arrived," Reese shrugged like it was something completely routine.

"You were attacked by decepticons?" Optimus' optics grew quite serious.

"Sort of? Come to find out, Knockout and Breakdown are fans of horror flicks. They must have recognized Raf and I when I took him to the bathroom, because they followed us out of the theatre lot. Nobody got hurt, though, so everything is fine," Reese explained.

"Why didn't you contact us for help?" Ratchet looked about ready to blow a gasket.

"We tried, but they were scrambling our cell signal. Like I said, though, we held our own, and thoroughly ruined Knockout's paint job in the process." Reese put her hands on her hips, beaming smugly.

"Hey, I like this kid. She's got guts," Wheeljack chuckled, bending over a little bit to get a closer look at Reese. "I like the war paint. What's your name kid? I don't think we were ever formally introduced."

"I'm Reese," Reese flushed, suddenly remembering the white handprint she had left on her forehead from when she had facepalmed previously.

"Nice to meet ya Reese. The name's Wheeljack."

"So I've heard," Reese smiled politely, but she also fidgeted a little nervously. She wasn't quite comfortable around Wheeljack yet.

Wheeljack seemed to pick up on this, because he glanced away awkwardly for a moment before standing back upright. "Well, I should probably be on my way, but it was a pleasure meeting you, Reese," Wheeljack stretched his arms a little bit, like he was preparing himself for a long trip.

"Aw, c'mon Jackie, you can't leave just yet. Besides, you'll probably just end up coming right back, anyways." Bulkhead slapped Wheeljack on the back.

Bumblebee and Arcee, who had pulled into base a few minutes ago, seemed to agree with Bulkhead.

"Bulk has a point. You would be wasting all that fuel, and energon is in short supply around here." Arcee folded her arms.

"Then again, we do have limited space," Ratchet grumbled as he turned back to his computer, not liking where the conversation was leading.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my freedom just yet. I might do some exploring to see if this rock suits me," Wheeljack said.

"No offense to the "Jackhammer", but you're gonna need an earth-based vehicle if you're planning on sticking around Earth for a while." Bulkhead noted.

"Huh, guess you're right. Well, lucky for you guys, I scanned this bad boy while we were out," Wheeljack grinned as he turned into a Lancia Stratos Turbo 5.

"Whoa!" Reese gasped as she took in Wheeljack's vehicle mode. It was beautiful and sleek, sporting green and red accents.

"See, even the kid approves," Wheeljack laughed at Reese's reaction. "Well, since I'm geared up for a good road trip, I guess I'll be seeing you guys around. Don't worry, I will be sure to stay in touch."

With that, Wheeljack revved his engine and sped out of the base, leaving everyone else behind in a cloud of dust.

"Well, that was unexpected," Reese coughed as she wafted the dust away from her face.

"No, not really. Jackie isn't one to just sit around," Bulkhead sighed, looking a little down that his friend had left without waiting for him to say goodbye.

"Don't worry, Bulk, he said he would keep in touch. Besides, he's touring around Earth now, so he will be a lot easier to contact." Reese patted Bulkhead comfortingly on the pede.

"I guess you're right," Bulkhead vented, but then he perked up a little bit. "Well, now I want to hear all about your adventure with the cons. Gimme all the details, starting with your new face paint."

"Indeed, I too would like to know what happened," Optimus looked down at Reese expectantly.

"Well, if you insist, but you might want to take a seat. It's a bit of a long story…"

(1) Deus Ex Machina: "an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel."
(Yes, I'm aware that it's a cheap copout, but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.)

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the brand new chapter! Please be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think! I loved writing the kids, so also let me know if you would like to see more filler chapters with Reese's adventures with the kids. Thanks again to KristenVerne for helping me with the chap!

Until next time, God Bless - Lucy