Sooooooooo... Who's still here after all this time? You! Yes, you! The one who has been sitting there patiently (or maybe impatiently) for over a year! You, my dear friend, are the real MVP! Thanks for sticking around even while I was on hiatus. I really needed to take a step back from a lot of things, including this story, and take care of myself. Worry not, it has never been my plan to drop this story. Even during my absence on FFN, I have still been working on Reese and Chase. I plan on posting artwork of them on my Tumblr sometime soon. Anyhoo... I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Notice: 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.

28. Old Wounds and New Weapons

Nobody bothered Reese the next morning. They let her sleep in, and even kept unnecessary noise to a minimum, which she greatly appreciated. It was late in the morning before she finally decided to climb out of bed. Groggily, she stumbled over to her dresser and grabbed a change of clothes and a towel so she could take a shower. She really should have taken one the night before, but she had been way too exhausted for that. In fact, she had been so tired that she hadn't even bothered to change into pajamas; she was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. Actually, they were the same clothes she'd been wearing when she was captured by the 'cons. Needless to say, she wasn't feeling the freshest.

She set her clean clothing down on the back of the toilet and got ready to get into the shower. While she waited for the water to warm up, she stared at herself in the mirror. June had been as neat with the stitches as possible, but it didn't change the fact that the skin under her left eye was red, swollen, and ugly, not to mention extremely tender to the touch.

With a deep sigh, she tore herself away from her reflection and climbed into the steaming shower. The hot water pelted her back, warming her skin and melting the tension out of her shoulders. She knelt in the bottom of the shower and let the water wash over her. It soaked her hair and streamed down her face and back with an enveloping warmth.

She sat like this for a while, not wanting it to end. Unfortunately, staying in the shower forever just wasn't an option. She relished in the warmth for a few moments more before finally getting up and actually cleaning herself. She was extra thorough with her scrubbing, and when she was done, she felt cleaner than she had ever felt before.

She grabbed her towel off the hook on the wall and dried herself off, making sure to really dry the joints in her cybernetics. Ratchet had coated them in a special rust preventing sealant, but she was still extra cautious to keep everything as dry as possible.

She pulled on a pair of shorts and an athletic tank top, before thoroughly towel drying her hair. She stared at her reflection again as she pulled the towel away, her now very tangled hair cascading about her shoulders.

"Well, that's a look," She smirked wryly. She looked around the sink for her hairbrush, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. "must've left it in my room," She mumbled to herself, opting to comb her fingers through her hair instead.

This, however, proved to be an unwise decision. The tangled hair had a mind of its own, and it wrapped itself around the joints in her fingers, getting caught in the tiny cybernetic components.

"Ow ow ow," She hissed as she yanked her hair in an attempt to free her fingers from its wily grasp. She struggled to untangle the hair, but the more she messed with it, the worse it became. "This is ridiculous," She huffed, slamming her free hand down onto the sink in frustration.

She leaned against the sink, weighing her options. She could either sit there and keep working at it, which would likely only make things worse, she could find someone to help her out, or she could cut it. She really wasn't feeling an impromptu haircut, so it looked like her best bet was going to be getting someone to help her. The only problem was that whoever she asked to help her was probably going to tease her. The real question was, who would be the one to tease her the least?

She mentally ran through her options. Bumblebee would definitely give her a hard time, and so would BlueStreak. Ratchet would help her, but he would probably do it begrudgingly, making her feel like an interruption. Arcee was a wild card, and Reese wasn't sure she wanted to take that kind of risk. Optimus would be the least likely to tease her about it, but she would feel weird asking the leader of the Autobots to untangle her hair for her.

'Oh, I know, maybe Raf is here. He would definitely help me out, and he'd even be willing to keep it a secret,' Reese thought, having an imaginary lightbulb moment. It was a Saturday, so he would probably be at the base. She just had to hope he wasn't out racing with Bumblebee.

With a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself and opened the door, trying to look as nonchalant and inconspicuous as possible. She quietly closed the door behind herself and looked both ways down the hall. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she made her way over to the rec room, where she hoped Raf would be playing with one of his RC cars.

She had only taken a couple steps when Chase stepped out into the hallway. His eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Hey Reese! How are you feeling this morning? Well, it's not really morning anymore, but you know what I mean."

"Oh, I'm fine," Reese smiled cheerily, but internally she cringed. She used her trapped hand to rub the back of her neck, hoping that Chase wouldn't notice the tangled mess of hair in her fingers.

"That's good. You were so exhausted last night; it's no wonder you slept so late. Have you eaten yet? June had the day off and came by to make pancakes for everyone. I think there should still be some left."

"Uh… I might get some in a bit," Reese hurriedly tried to end the conversation and get back to her search for Rafael. "By the way, have you seen Raf around?"

"No, he and Bumblebee went racing earlier. They wanted you to come with them, but figured it was probably best to just let you sleep in. Why do you ask?"

"Uh…. no reason," Reese's heart sank.

"Are you sure you're okay? You keep rubbing the back of your neck. Is it hurting?

"Oh, I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it," Reese sweat dropped. Why did Chase have to be so perceptive?

"Reese, if you are in pain or something, you should really let Ratchet know. Your adrenaline may have been so high last night that you didn't notice any other injuries. Considering everything that happened, you should have a diagnostic scan done, just in case. If you want, I can walk with you to the med bay," Chase offered, taking a step towards Reese.

"That's really not necessary," Reese assured, backing away a little. She could feel her cheeks growing warm.

"Reese?" Chase squinted suspiciously and put his hands on his hips. It was clear that he didn't believe her in the slightest.

"Look, I'm not hurt… It's just…" Reese sighed defeatedly. This was getting out of hand. She might as well just tell Chase the truth.

"It's just what?"

"Do you promise not to laugh?" Reese glanced up at Chase, trying to gauge how he would react to that question.

He quirked a brow but didn't answer. Reese could tell that his concern was quickly morphing into curious amusement.

"You have to promise not to laugh, or I'm not going to tell you." Reese huffed, sounding a little annoyed.

"Okay, okay, I promise I won't laugh," Chase agreed, but Reese could already see a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Reese looked at the floor as she pulled her hand away from her neck, revealing the knotted mass of hair intertwined among her fingers.

Chase let out a slight snort, which he quickly disguised as a cough.

Reese was not amused. "I said not to laugh!"

"I'm not laughing; Really I'm not!" Chase insisted, but a chuckle slipped out when he spoke, despite his best efforts.

"Whatever, now you know... Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to try and find someone to help me untangle this mess," Reese rolled her eyes and tried to push past Chase.

"Here, I can help you," Chase offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather not be teased the entire time," Reese frowned, continuing to try and push past.

"I won't tease you, I promise," Chase insisted.

"Yea, well you also promised you wouldn't laugh, and you did."

"I didn't laugh; I breathed forcefully out my nose. It's different. Besides, I really do promise that I won't give you a hard time about it."

Reese paused for a moment, considering his offer.

"Here, this will probably be easier to do if you sit down," Chase ushered Reese over to his room, not really giving her a chance to argue. He grabbed a chair and set it over by the bed. "Sit here," he pointed to the chair.

Reese sighed, realizing that there was no getting out of it at this point. She sat in the chair, and Chase sat down on the bed across from her. He leaned over and very gently began untangling the hair from her finger joints, one strand at a time.

Reese stared at the floor the entire time he worked, feeling extremely awkward. His face was so close to hers. She felt warmth rise in her cheeks again, and she had to mentally will herself to keep a calm composure.

Chase carefully untangled the last strand and leaned back proudly. "There you go, all untangled."

"Thanks," Reese mumbled, still a little flustered from having him so close to her face.

"Aww come on, is that all the thanks you're going to give me? Just a little mumble?" Chase leaned over so that he could look up at Reese's face, which she was very desperately trying to hide.

"I said thanks, isn't that enough?" Reese flushed, covering her face with her hands.

"Alright, alright, I'm just kidding." Chase chuckled, leaning back and giving Reese a little space. His smile fell a bit when his eyes came to rest on the scar under her eye.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Huh?" Chase seemed to be pulled from his thoughts.

"The scar… You're staring at it. It must be pretty ugly if that's all you can look at…" Reese grumbled, clenching the fabric of her shorts tightly in her fists.

"No, I wasn't thinking that at all!"

"That's not what your face said…"

"My face?"

"You looked disgusted…"

"No way! You misunderstood. I was just thinking about how painful it must be for you. That, and I was angry. It burns me up inside to think about what those cons did to you."

"Sure…" Reese snorted, turning away. She looked like she was ready to bolt out the door.

"Hey! Don't say that!" Chase grabbed Reese's wrist, not hard, but firmly enough to keep her from running away. "You can't just assume that everyone thinks the worst when they look at you. Surely you don't really think we care if you have a scar or two, right?"

"..."

"Right?"

"I don't know," Reese sighed, looking longingly at the door.

"Have you seen the other bots? They are covered in scrapes and scratches! Is that all you see when you look at them?"

"No…"

"Then why would we do that to you?"

"Because it's smack dab in the middle of my face. Everybody else's scratches and scars just meld into their armour plating, but mine is the first thing anybody is going to see when they look at me."

"So? Just because we see it doesn't mean that's all we think about when we look at you. Besides, since when were you so obsessed with your looks anyways? In all the time I have been here at the base, I have never heard you complain about your scar. It's not like it's new, it's only a little worse than it was before." Chase pointed out.

"I don't know… it just feels more noticeable I guess…"

"I mean, if anything, your cybernetic limbs stand out more than the scar on your face."

"That was unnecessary," Reese's eyes flashed at Chase's comment.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way, I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't worry about your looks so much."

"That's easy for you to say; you're the one who looks totally normal!"

"Reese, don't be like that. I was just trying to make a point, not upset you."

"Well, your point has been made, and now, if you don't mind, I have something important to discuss with Ratchet," Reese said a little snappily. She huffed and stalked out of Chase's room, leaving the young man feeling quite bewildered. Everything had been fine a few moments ago.

Moments after Reese left, Bluestreak's holoform appeared in the doorway. He had overheard their conversation in his room next door, and he had a feeling Chase was probably blaming himself for how things went down.

"You okay kiddo?"

Chase glanced up for a second, but upon seeing that it was Bluestreak, he let out a deep sigh and looked back at the floor.

"Oh come on, don't ignore me. I know when something's got you down," Bluestreak came in and sat down backwards in the chair next to Chase's bed. "Look, I overheard everything. Don't take it so seriously. Reese has had a temper since she was a little tike, but it cools off just as quickly as it flares up. Give her some time and she'll be right back to her usual self.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Chase shot Bluestreak a sideways glare.

"Me? Dropping eaves? Never! You forget that my room is right next door, and these walls aren't very soundproof. I just happened to be able to hear your conversation, that's all."

"Uh huh, sure."

"No really, it's true. Would I ever lie to you?"

"About something like this? Yes," Chase deadpanned.

"You know, fair point, but I'm being honest this time."

Chase sighed and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't mean to make her mad. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You were trying to make her feel better, that's what you were thinking. She has just had a lot on her mind."

"I don't really understand her thought process. She hardly seemed to care about her looks, and now she is super self-conscious all the sudden. It makes no sense to me."

"I can tell you that there is more to the situation than meets the eye. In the time that we have come to live at the base, I have noticed that she keeps a lot of her thoughts and feelings hidden from everyone else. There is a lot that goes on in that head of hers that nobody ever knows about."

"I guess I never noticed…"

"That's because she didn't want you to."

"Then how did you know?"

"When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to read body language and subtle cues really well. I might not know exactly what she's thinking, but I can tell from her tense shoulders, her ever so slightly knit brow, and the far off look she gets in her eyes, that she's going through something that she doesn't want the others to know about. I'm not the only one who has noticed, Optimus and Ratchet have keen optics too. We know she's hiding what she's feeling because she doesn't want to burden others, so we don't question her about it, but we know that she's got stuff weighing on her.

"Well now I feel really blind…" Chase glared down at his hands in this lap.

"Don't feel bad, she's pretty good at hiding stuff. I bet most people around the base don't suspect a thing," Bluestreak gave Chase a pat on the back. "Just remember that there is usually more going on beneath the surface. Stuff that she doesn't want or doesn't feel like she can share. But honestly, that advice can go for anyone. We all have things that we keep to ourselves, and when things that others do don't make sense, it's usually because of something they have kept on the downlow."

"I'll try to keep that in mind."

"In the meantime, don't beat yourself up too badly. Just maybe don't mention Reese's cybernetics in the future… That seems to be a particularly sore spot for her."

"Yea, I see that now."

"What's got me curious is what she had to talk about with Ratchet." Bluestreak thought aloud, unintentionally changing the subject.

"I don't know, probably to ask him if there is any way to make her scar less visible," Chase muttered, resting his chin in his hand.

"Nah, I doubt it. Nurse Darby made it pretty clear that she did the best she could, and Reese isn't the type to pester Ratchet about something so petty. Everyone knows that he doesn't have time for that sort of stuff. No, it would have to be something really important, something worth his time," Bluestreak tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Why don't you go ask her yourself, if you're so curious?"

"She wouldn't tell me. We may be on better terms, but she doesn't trust that she can fully open up to me yet. I can't blame her, after all the time that I was away… It's only fair that she would be hesitant to divulge all her cares and concerns to me," Bluestreak sighed.

"Well, since you seem to be in the habit of it, you could always go "drop some eaves" outside Ratchet's med bay and find out for yourself," Chase smirked.

"I told you I wasn't listening in!"

"Yea, yea, that's what they all say."

"You know, you're growing up to be a lot like me, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing," Bluestreak grinned, playfully punching Chase's arm.

"And I wonder whose fault that is," Chase rolled his eyes, grinning back.

Reese grumbled as she stomped off towards the main lobby. "What a jerk, of course I know that my cybernetic implants stick out like a sore thumb, I don't need him pointing it out. How could he be so thoughtless?"

Sure, she had never told him that she was self-conscious about her cybernetic implants, but still, surely something like that didn't need to be explicitly said, right?

She took a deep breath before walking into the main lobby. She was still very mad at Chase, but she had more important things to deal with. The thought of getting a weapons upgrade had been rolling around in her head for a while, and she wanted to see if Ratchet could make it happen.

She stepped into the med bay to find Ratchet running some scans on Bulkhead, who had finally regained consciousness.

"Bulk! You're awake!" Reese gasped and ran up to Bulkhead's medical berth, temporarily forgetting her reason for coming to see Ratchet.

"Ep ep ep, Bulkhead is still in very serious condition. Give him some space," Ratchet reprimanded, reaching down and pushing Reese back a few feet.

"How are you feeling?" Reese asked, ignoring Ratchet's groan of protest.

"Nnng, everything hurts," Bulkhead grunted, holding his helm tenderly. "Ratchet says I'm lucky to be alive."

"He's not wrong. You were in pretty bad shape," Reese's eyebrows knitted together as she took in Bulkhead's condition. He looked like he was still in a lot of pain.

"Well, he will be in tip top shape in no time! Just you watch," Miko, who was sitting next to Bulkhead, flashed her guardian a thumbs up.

"It's going to be a loooong while before Bulkhead is in 'tip top' shape, Miko," Ratchet vented, rolling his optics. "He's had extensive damage to all of his systems. That isn't something that heals overnight."

"You're underestimating Bulk. He's the strongest bot I know." Miko glared back at Ratchet, hands on her hips.

"Strong or not, it is still going to be a while before he is back on his pedes again." Ratchet argued.

"You act like you don't want him to get better quickly!" Miko raised her voice. Bulkhead winced at her volume.

"You know that's not true, Miko. Ratchet wants Bulkhead to get better quickly just as much as the rest of us. He's just trying to be realistic." Reese chided softly, putting a hand on Miko's shoulder. "How long have you been here?"

"She hasn't left his side since the incident," Ratchet grumbled, annoyed that Miko had been in his way for several days on end.

"You haven't gone home at all?" Reese gaped.

"I was too worried about Bulk… I couldn't just leave him," Miko pouted, her lower lip quivering a little. "Besides, I wanted to be the first person he saw when he woke up."

"Well, he's awake now, and getting the best care possible, so maybe you should go home and get some rest. I'm sure your host parents are worried about you." Reese suggested, keenly aware of the deep circles under Miko's eyes.

"Psshhh, I'm fine," Miko waved her hand dismissively, but then let out a huge yawn.

"Yea, I don't believe you. You need a hot shower and a good night's sleep. You can rest easy now, knowing that Bulkhead is awake and on the mend." Reese angled herself so she was behind Miko and started pushing the girl out of the med bay.

"No way, I gotta make sure Bulk doesn't slack off on the recovery process!" Miko protested, but another yawn cut her off before she could say anything else.

"At this point, his recovery is mainly going to involve lots of bed rest. Rebuilding his prior strength is going to have to come later," Ratchet shook his helm.

"Ratchet's right, there isn't anything you can do for him. Don't worry, we will all keep an eye on him while you're home. Besides, I'm sure Wheeljack will be giving him a hard time in your place," Reese teased. "Speaking of which, where is Wheeljack? I figured he would have been here with Bulkhead."

"He left early this morning, just before Bulk woke up. Said something about not wanting to see Bulkhead in such a state." Miko folded her arms and grumbled.

"What!? But he is Bulkhead's best friend! How could he just leave like that?" Reese sputtered.

"That's Jackie for ya," Bulkhead grunted, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position. "He doesn't stick around for long."

"Why? It sounds to me like he's just running away from the issue," Reese huffed, crossing her arms.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. That's just how he is. Getting all upset about it isn't going to change anything."

"Well, Wheeljack or no Wheeljack, you still need to go home, Miko. I will go ahead and fire up the ground bridge," Ratchet interrupted and turned to the ground bridge controls.

"But-"

"Miko, trust me, we will let you know if there is any change in Bulk's condition. You need to take care of yourself so that you can be in the best possible shape to help Bulk when he's ready for physical therapy," Reese patted Miko on the back and gave her a gentle push towards the ground bridge.

"Fine, but I expect to get hour by hour updates on his condition while I'm at home," Miko huffed.

"I will keep you updated, I promise. It might not be hourly, but I will send you texts throughout the day to let you know how he's doing," Reese assured, waving as Miko sulkily went through the portal.

As soon as Miko crossed onto the other side of the portal, Bulkhead fell back onto the medical berth with a painful grunt.

"Bulkhead! Are you alright?" Reese jumped at the sudden noise.

"It is probably best that you go into recharge. That is going to be the best form of recovery for you right now," Ratchet spoke calmly as he checked Bulkhead's vitals, not surprised by the bot's collapse in the slightest.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Bulkhead mumbled as he closed his optics and let his mind fall into recharge.

Reese watched Bulkhead for a few moments, worried that he might suddenly take a turn for the worse, but his sparkbeat and vitals showed no fluctuations.

Satisfied that Bulkhead probably wasn't going to spontaneously go critical, Reese turned to Ratchet, finally mustering up the courage to ask what she had come to the med bay for in the first place.

"Hey Ratchet, I have kind of an odd request. I don't even know if it's possible, but I figured there was no harm in asking," Reese awkwardly fidgeted with her hands, trying to think of the best way to phrase her question.

"An odd request you say? Coming from you, that makes me both curious and a little worried," Ratchet turned to Reese, putting his servos on his hip plating and giving her a level stare.

"Heh… I had a feeling you would say that," Reese chuckled, scratching her cheek nervously. "The thing is, I have been thinking about all the situations I have found myself stuck in lately, and I thought that it would be wise to have a way to defend myself…"

"Are you asking me to build a custom weapon for you?"

"Yes and no…" Reese averted her gaze, clasping her hands behind her back and bouncing back and forth slightly from one foot to the other. "I'm asking if it might be possible for you to upgrade me with transforming weapons, like the other bots have…"

Ratchet looked a bit taken aback by this request. "Reese, I understand that you want to protect yourself, but that is asking too much. First of all, I would have to design a whole new set of tiny weapons, which I have neither the time nor resources for. Not to mention, I don't even know if it is possible to outfit a techno-organic with transforming weaponry. It's not like your hands would be able to just magically turn into blasters. Your Cybertronian form is limited by your human form. This is why you can't scan and transform into a vehicle; you just don't have those kinds of components. And even if I could find a way to give you blasters, which is extremely unlikely, it's not like you can use your own energon reserves as fuel for it like we can. There are just too many limitations and unknown factors."

"It doesn't have to be a blaster. I know something like that wouldn't work. But what if it was like a blade or something that could extend out, like the sword on Megatron's arm? His sword doesn't replace his fist, it comes out of a mounted device on his wrist."

"Once again, I don't have the time or resources to design a whole bunch of weapon prototypes for you. We are already down one member, so we must be extra diligent to maximize the time and resources we still have." Ratchet vented and ran a servo down his face. "I'm sorry Reese, it's just not feasible."

"I get it… Forget I asked," Reese sighed and turned to leave. She had tried not to get her hopes up about anything but was still disappointed that Ratchet wouldn't even try to help her.

She could hear Ratchet vent frustratedly as she walked away. She couldn't tell if the frustration was directed at her or at himself, but either way, it didn't do anything to make her feel better about the situation.

"If Ratchet won't make weapons for me, then I guess it's up to me to find an alternative." she thought, making her way to the door of the storage room that was across the hall from her bedroom.

Inside the storage bay was the crate of failed experiments that she and Bumblebee had brought back from the abandoned outpost. She took the top off the crate and rummaged around inside. Doing so brought back memories to when she had shown off the inventions to Chase. He had been so excited to see them and opening the crate without him made Reese feel a twinge of guilt. Still, she wasn't quite over her frustration with him.

She pushed aside the guilt and reached back into the box, pulling out the failed jetpack prototype. She propped it up against the box and reached back in for the plasma rifle. As much as the jetpack intrigued her, an actual weapon was what she was looking for.

She set the plasma rifle prototype on the ground and started dismantling it. It actually came apart relatively easily, and soon Reese found herself surrounded with a bunch of miscellaneous parts.

She looked at all the pieces in bewilderment. She could fix computers, but weapon technology was completely lost on her. She couldn't tell any of the pieces apart or identify what they were used for.

"This is gonna be harder than I originally thought," She sighed, resting her chin in her hands.

"What's gonna be harder than you thought?" Bluestreak's voice came from the general direction of the open storage bay door.

"Gah! Bluestreak, you scared me! You can't just sneak up on people like that," Reese glared at Bluestreak, who was leaning against the wall opposite the storage bay.

"I'm a giant robot, Reese. You need to work on your spatial awareness if my loud footsteps didn't alert you of my coming," Bluestreak chuckled.

"I was distracted," Reese rolled her eyes, turning back to the array of plasma rifle parts in front of her.

"Clearly," Bluestreak snickered again, using the Cybertronian sized door to come in and watch over Reese's shoulder. "So, whatcha working on?"

"Ratchet said that he can't upgrade me to have weapons like the rest of you, so I'm making my own… Well, trying to make something anyways."

"What makes you think that you need to have weapons?" Bluestreak raised an optic ridge and folded his arms.

"I think I should have a way to defend myself. If I had weapons before now, I might have prevented Knockout from kidnapping me. Or at least held out long enough for you guys to get there…"

"I'm sorry we didn't make it in time. I promise I will never let that happen again!" Bluestreak's optics darkened at the memory. "The next time I see that filthy Con, I will make him pay for hurting you!"

"That isn't the point," Reese scoffed, turning away from BlueStreak.

"What do you mean?" Bluestreak looked bewildered.

"Time and time again I keep finding myself in dangerous situations. There is just an inherent danger involved in associating with you guys. I don't mind the risk, because if it weren't for all of you, I would still be all alone, but I don't expect to be denied the ability to protect myself. I'm sure you all think that you can protect me from whatever dangers are out there, but the truth is that you can't. Nobody can be everywhere at once. I appreciate the care and protection that has been given to me so far, but at some point, I have to take my safety into my own hands. If Ratchet isn't willing to equip me a means of protecting myself, then I have no other option but to find my own means."

"Reese…" Bluestreak looked taken aback and a little hurt. "Do you really mean it when you say that you can't trust us to protect you?"

Reese bit her lip and looked away. It sounded so harsh when he put it that way. "It's not that I don't trust you. I believe that you and Optimus and the others will do everything in your power to keep me safe, but at the end of the day, there is always a small chance that something could happen… I could find myself separated from you. Please, just let me have this one thing. I hope that there never comes another time that I would need a weapon to protect myself, but I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

Bluestreak was silent for a moment before he finally vented. "Alright, I can't argue with you when you put it that way." He activated his holoform, came over and sat down on the floor next to Reese. "If that's the case though, someone is going to need to help you build this thing, since you clearly have no idea what you're doing."

"For real!? You're going to help me?" Reese looked up at Bluestreak excitedly.

"Sure, I know my way around both Cybertronian and human tech, seeing how I have been on Earth as long as I have. Unlike Ratchet, I fully embraced Earth as my new home, and learned to make due with its limited technology. Of course, Earth's understanding of technology has improved greatly over the past few years. I mean, when your dad was a kid, nobody had cell phones, or computers, or any of the neat stuff you all have today."

"How did you keep in touch with other autobots then? It can't have been efficient to contact your colleagues through snail mail." Reese rolled her eyes.

"Hey, just because normal people didn't have access to super cool tech doesn't mean that I didn't. I used Cybertronian communication devices, as well as my starship to keep up with my teammates. Humans would have lost their minds if they knew about the technology I was packing," Bluestreak laughed heartily. "Course, when stuff would break down, that's when things got a little problematic. I can't just pick up a flux capacitor at the hardware store, y'know?"

"So how did you fix stuff?" Reese was now thoroughly invested in the conversation. She didn't really have these kinds of conversations with the other bots.

"Oh, you know, duct tape and elbow grease," Bluestreak shrugged, flashing Reese a mischievous grin.

"Oh come on, don't keep me hanging here!" Reese groaned… Of course Bluestreak would tease her once he knew her curiosity had been piqued.

"Well, instead of telling you, why don't I show you? I learned how to integrate human and Cybertronian tech. Take this power core, for example," Bluestreak held up a glowing blue energon core. "These are pretty run of the mill on Cybertron, but I'm sure humans would kill for a power source like this. That being said, a power core isn't exactly useful unless it has something to convert that power into kinetic energy. Even if we stick the core into the frame of this rifle, it won't do anything. The rifle casing will act as nothing more than a house for the core. Add in a heat coil and some electrodes to the barrel, however, and suddenly you have a way to superheat the energon and pressurize it into projectile bullets."

"Whoa," Reese stared in awe, completely transfixed by everything Bluestreak was showing her, watching intently as he fastened the many components together into one seamless weapon.

"And just like that, you've got yourself a working plasma rifle," Bluestreak held the rifle up proudly.

"Can I test it out!?" It took every fiber of Reese's being not to impatiently snatch the rifle from Bluestreak's hands.

"Hold your horses, kiddo. This is still a weapon, and a dangerous one at that. I will test it out first, just to make sure it isn't going to blow up in your hands. If it passes my safety inspection, then and only then will I teach you how to use it."

"Okay… that's fair," Reese sighed. She was slightly disappointed that she wouldn't get to fire the first shot, but she had to admit that having Bluestreak test it first was definitely the smart thing to do.

"Why don't you go grab Chase. We can all go on a field trip out into the desert to do a little target practice," Bluestreak suggested.

"Sure!" Reese jumped up, but then her expression quickly morphed into a pout and she folded her arms. "Actually, forget about Chase. I'm still mad at him."

Bluestreak chuckled, which only made Reese's frown deepen. "If you had to remind yourself that you were mad at him, then don't you think it's time you just forgave him and went back to being happy?"

"It doesn't work like that. He insulted me." Reese huffed, turning her back towards Bluestreak.

"He didn't mean to, you know. He's a guy. He doesn't always understand the way girls think. Cut him a little bit of slack."

"Well, you're a guy and you seem to have girls' minds figured out."

Bluestreak doubled over, laughing so hard he started wheezing. "I've been around for millions of years, and I still don't understand the way women think. I've just had a tad bit more practice than Chase has."

"It still doesn't change the fact that he hurt my feelings," Reese crossed her arms.

"Why don't you give him a chance to apologize. You kind of stomped out before he had a chance to explain himself."

Reese didn't say anything. She just frowned. Then a look of realization spread across her face. "Wait… I don't remember you being there when Chase and I had our argument. How do you know what happened and how I left?" Reese glared at Bluestreak suspiciously. "Were you listening in?"

"What? No, you're overthinking it… I just talked things over with Chase afterward…" Bluestreak assured, though he didn't exactly sound very convincing.

Reese glared harder, squinting her eyes and pulling her lips into a tight frown.

"Whoa kiddo, careful there. If you hold that face for too long, it might get stuck that way."

"Don't change the subject!"

"Do you want to test out this plasma rifle or not?"

"You're still changing the subject…" Reese rolled her eyes.

"I am and I'm putting my foot down. You will go and make amends with Chase, or I'm not taking you to test the rifle.

"Fine…" Reese grumbled, shuffling out of the storage bay and to Chase's room. She stood in front of the door, hesitating for a moment. Finally, she squared up her shoulders and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Chase called out from inside.

"It's Reese." She tried to sound stern, and set a serious, almost perturbed look on her face.

"Oh, give me a sec," Chase called back, and Reese could hear shuffling about behind the door.

A oment later, the door opened, and Chase stood on the other side, rubbing his hand through his hair and avoiding eye contact. "Hey Reese, I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier… I was trying to be understanding, but it came across in a way that hurt you. I promise I will try to be more careful with my words in the future."

The perturbed expression on Reese's face melted as Chase spoke. She hadn't expected an apology right out the gate. She stared at him in bewildered silence, not sure of what to say.

"Do you forgive me?" Chase asked awkwardly, still staring at the floor.

Reese glanced away and folded her arms behind her back. "Yea, I guess so… Thanks for apologizing."

"Thanks for not hating my guts. I was a little worried you would still be angry at me after the way you left earlier."

"I was… but Bluestreak helped me sort things out."

"Yea, he's pretty good at that," Chase smiled softly.

"Anyways, speaking of Bluestreak, he helped me repair the plasma rifle prototype I showed you in the old outpost. We were just going to test it out and wanted to know if you would like to come with us?"

"Sure! That sounds fun!" Chase grinned. "Let me get my shoes on and I will meet you guys in the main room."

"Alright, but make it quick or we might leave without you," Reese teased as she ran back to meet up with Bluestreak. She sprinted into the main room, skidding to a stop right in front of the bot.

"From how fast you just ran in here, I'm guessing you made up with Chase and are ready to go?"

"Yup! We're all good," Reese panted slightly, giving Bluestreak a thumbs up.

"Good girl, then I suppose I can go ahead and give you this now," Bluestreak opened his servo and in the middle of it was what looked like a watch.

"You're giving me a watch?" Reese tilted her head, looking a little confused.

"Take a closer look and guess again," Bluestreak chuckled as he handed the watch to Reese.

She inspected it carefully, and noticed that instead of a watch face, it had a small screen, and had a couple of buttons and dials on the side. She pressed one of the buttons and the little screen lit up blue. A light projected out of it, shining on her face.

"Scanning biosignature… Calibrating frequencies… Cloaking activated…" a robot voice came from the device.

"It's a cloaking device!" Reese smiled brightly, inspecting the device even more closely now. "It looks nothing like the one Ratchet helped me build. This one is so much more high-tech!"

"And more importantly, it's waterproof," Bluestreak chuckled. "Now you won't have to worry about it short-circuiting if you get caught in another rainstorm."

"Thank you so much!" Reese looked up gratefully at Bluestreak.

"You're very welcome. Besides, it was a necessity anyways."

"Yea… I had almost forgotten that I couldn't go outside without one. That could have caused a whole 'nother fiasco."

"Yup, and I don't think this 'ol spark can handle another fiasco like this past one."

"I will be more careful, I promise. Besides, if this rifle works like it's supposed to, it will be a total game changer!"

"Heck yea it will! Now let's go see it in action!" Chase chimed in, having just joined the party.

"Alright, now that we're all here, we can finally get this show on the road," Bluestreak chuckled, transforming into his vehicle mode.

Just before Reese climbed into the passenger seat, Chase put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. She turned around and looked at him quizzically.

"You sure we're good? No hard feelings?"

"Pfft, yea totally. It's all water under the bridge now." Reese said with an assuring smile.

"Thanks, you're a good friend." Chase's cheeks flushed slightly, and he quickly looked away.

"Heh, you too!" Reese shrugged, not seeming to notice Chase's embarrassment.

"Alright you two, you can continue your sentimental conversation in the car. My engine is idling and ready to go!" Bluestreak called out, revving his engine for good measure.

"Sorry," Both young adults said in unison, climbing into Bluestreak's vehicle mode.

"Alrighty then, time to go blow some stuff up!" Bluestreak cackled, his tires spinning slightly and leaving tread marks as he peeled out of the base.

Thank you for reading, and thank you again for your patience! Blessings - Lucy