Chapter Nine: Lights Out

I just spent the last half hour laying in bed staring at the dark ceiling. It was a bit past 7 in the morning, 7:43 to be exact. yeah I woke up realizing just what today is suppose to be.

Fragging Scrapheap. Scraplets. Seeing them on the show is one thing but dealing with them in actuality is gonna be very very stressful. Ugh, I just wanna turn over and go back to sleep but I know that won't be happening anytime soon. Looking back at the time it was already 7:58. Well, might as well get up now. Getting up I went and got my outfit for the day that I would be able to run in. Jean like leggings with a pocket for my phone, charcoal tank top, and my black tennis shoes. After putting my hair in a high ponytail I placed my phone in my pocket and headed towards the kitchen to raid the place for food.

As I neared the command center I started hearing voices, so curiosity taking ahold of me I went in to see Bulkhead and Bumblebee talking to each other. Bulkhead was the first to notice me approach. "Hey hey, look who's up. Didn't think you'd be up yet. Good morning Shadow."

"Good morning Bulkhead, Bee. what ya'll up too?" "We are about to pick up the children, do you want to come with us?" "Yeah, I'd love too. Is anyone else up or just ya'll?" I already had a feeling that OP and Arcee were with Ratchet. "Yeah, Arcee and Boss bot are talking to Ratchet about the strange frozen sphere we found in the arctic." Bulkhead answered before the two of them transformed. I knew that Jack was gonna ride with Raf and Bee so I decided to roll with Bulk and Miko.

"I will ride with you, I hadn't been able to spend that much time with you since I been dealing with dumb and dumber. I'm surprised I hadn't ran into them yet." I said as I got in the passenger seat. Bulkhead chuckled. "Yeah well, they were up earlier, last I heard they went to the training room probably sparring." I face palmed at that as the only thing I can imagine is them basically fighting and insulting each other. "You know what, they do them, i'm not going to worry about it." We drove out of the base and when we got on the road I almost jumped when Bulkhead activated his holoform. He was a large African man looking around mid 30s. You can see the muscles under his t-shirt. He had very short hair and was clean shaved. He looked good as a human.

It didn't take long for us to start talking and laughing about the most random stuff. We also blasted some music and I showed him a bit of songs from Upchurch. So by the time we pulled up to Miko's the song 'YZ' was blasting through the speakers. I waved at Miko as she came running out of the house and jumped in the back. "Dude I can hear ya'll from a couple blocks away! What song is this?" Miko asks. "This is YZ by Upchurch." "Even though I don't like anything country, it had a good beat." She said. "Don't worry Bulk can put on a different song after this one." I told her. "I actually kinda like the songs. I'll have to listen to more of them later." Bulkhead commented. Before anyone could say anything else Bees beeps and bleeps can be heard over the com-link. "Hey, are any of you hungry? Jack and Rafare and was planning to get something to eat but wanted to know if ya'll were too." "What's he saying?" Miko leans up between Bulk and I. I looked over at her. "He want to know if we are hungry. Jack and Raf haven't eaten anything and were planning to eat somewhere and wanted to know if we wanted to come with." I informed her and at that moment both of our stomachs decided to growl. We heard Bulkhead and the others laughing. "We'll take that as a yes then." Jack chuckles. "Let's meet up at K.O. then." Raf say before the link was cut. Didn't take 5 minuets to arrive at the burger joint. Jack, Raf, and Bee's holoform were standing by the door. And damn I had to take a double take at Bee. He looked like he was barely 15 or 16 with blonde hair and fair skin. When we parked and got out I could see a bit of muscle through his black and yellow fitted shirt. Damn he's cute.

"We ready?" Jack asked as we headed inside. Finally I could get something to eat since I didn't get to raid the kitchen this morning, I can't go too long without food otherwise I end up with some intense hunger pains.

When we arrived back at base we saw Optimus and Arcee near an already open ground bridge with Ratchet by the controls. I spotted Cliffjumper and Windblade not far to the side talking to each other, rolling my eyes as I saw just how dented they were but on a good note they didn't seem hostel with one another.

When we stopped and got out they all turned to us, Ratchet in annoyance, my two nutjobs smiling towards me. "Miss us Doc Bot?" Miko asked towards Ratchet who looks towards Prime. "Shouldn't they be in school?" "They don't have school on Saturdays and Sundays." I informed. "Yeah, we have the whole weekend off, to spend with you." Miko jabs at Ratchet and I try to hold in my laughter at his expression. I start towards Cliff and Blade as I can hear Jack behind me. "I wasn't expecting a car pool. What gives Arcee?" "Tag-team Jack, it's my turn for exploration duty." She places a hand on her hip. "Well too bad. It's a beautiful day for a ride. I would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors." He smirked with his arms crossed. "Arctic exploration duty." She clarifies with a knowing smirk. "Indoors where it's warm." I laughed as Jack quickly points towards the entertainment center. Cliff lowers his hand down for me to climb on and raises me to his shoulder.

"What, you don't want to play in the snow Shadow?" Windblade smirks at me as I playfully scoffed. "Do I look like I'm dressed to play in the snow? Pit nah, i'll freeze my aft off before I can even take 10 steps." They chuckled as I gestured to my leggings and tank top. I looked back over when I heard Optimus tell Raf that he'll bring him back a snowball. That'll be a hell of a big snowball. "It would be so epic seeing ya bots having a snowball fight." I said towards my two bots as they agreed. Though I would be seeing from a distance cause I have a feeling that my ass would get plowed by a big ass ball of snow.

As soon as the ground bridge closed I knew that slag was about to hit the fan, especially when I saw the controls start sparking. Primus let us get through this alive. I stayed with Cliffjumper and Blade while Jack and Miko started a racing match and Raf went off to pretend he was in a blizzard. Poor kid, if I wasn't 2 stories off the ground I would go join him. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee. Here. Now. Cliffjumper, Windblade. You too." Ratchet ordered as I heard 4 sets of groans. "Ya'll are such big sparklings." And now 4 sets of light glares. "What this time Doc bot?" Cliffjumper grinned as said doc bot glared. "The only reason I'm not throwing a wrench at you is cause of Shadow there." "You're welcome by the way." I grinned at my guardian who grinned back.

"You can't boss us around cause the boss is out." Bulkhead said and Windblade nodded in agreement but was completely ignored. "I need some heavy lifting, the ground bridge is down." "Wait, hold up, what about Arcee and Optimus?" Bee asks in concern. Cliffjumper stepped to the side before lowering me onto the platform nearby. "Arcee and Optimus made it through just fine. It's bringing them back that concerns me. Now remove those panels. Chop. Chop." Ratch demanded as he clapped his hands. I had to cover my mouth as to not burst out laughing. Primus they can be so funny.

I caught Cliffjumper glancing at me with a playful glare and smirk. I stuck my tongue at him and mouthed 'get to work lazy'. He looked at me in fake shock and was about to say something back when Bee suddenly came up behind Cliff and grabbed one of his horns and started dragging the poor bot to the panels. "Ow ow oW BEE THAT FRAGGING HURTS!" Cliffjumper exclaims in pain as he tries to separate the young scouts hand from his horn. I didn't even try to cover up my laughter this away from the pouty sparklings, I walked over to where the steps are before going down to ground level. I mean might as well since it won't be long before Raf comes back with Scrappy. Suddenly I felt anxiety hit me like a tsunami as my heart started beating faster and breathing slightly heavy as my hands started shaking. Why is my body responding like this? It couldn't be because of the scraplets, could it?

"Psst- hey Shadow." ...what was that? 5 minuets?! The hell! I jogged over to Raf who was just peeking into the main room hiding the scraplet from view, forcing the feeling to the side with much difficulty the closer I got to Raf. "Hey Raf." "Hey checkout what I found." He said quietly and showed me what appears to be an adorable harmless little bot. Ran away! Get as far away as possible! My inner voice screamed. "It's cute, but got a bad feeling bout it." I forced a small smile even though I had a feeling he wasn't gonna care. "But look at it, he ain't going to hurt us. Like a little puppy." Sure, we going for demonic Chihuahua from hell? "Come on, I wanna show Bee." He said as he walked passed me and towards to poor bots who were about to get the sparkattack of the century. Sighing in defeat I followed after the boy while keeping a nice gap between us, mentally preparing for the hell we are about to go through for the next couple hours.

"We most definitely have a problem, but what could have caused this?" Ratchet asked to no one in particular as the lights flickered. "Or that." Bulkhead commented. "It might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction." Ratchet thought. Yeahhhh sorry but nope not even close. It far worse.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Raf shouted without a care. And here we go, yippy-de-do. "We're Busy-AHHHHHH! Ratchet yelled in frustration before screaming in terror as he noticed what was in the young boys arms. Suddenly all 5 bots were backing away yelling and screaming as they pointed all their blasters towards the tiny deadly pest. Jack and Miko were standing protectively in front of Raf while I stood off to the side not wanting anywhere near the vermin. And judging by the strong sense of Deja Vu and my rising anxiety, I have a feeling that I may have crossed paths with some Scraplets back on Cybertron. That's the only explanation as to why I feel this way.

"Whoa Whoa, What's with you guys? And what you staying over there for Shadow?" Miko Exclaims as she and Jack looks between me and the terrified bots. All I can do was shake my head and take another step back even though it isn't gonna come after me with me being human and all. Hopefully. "SCRAPLET! SCRAPLEET!" Bulk screams out while Windblade looks like he was gonna be sick and Cliffjumper I can see taking small steps to the side towards me as I did the same towards him. "What's a Scraplet?" Raf asks innocently jumping up trying to see over the two teens in front of him. "The most dangerous vermin to ever crawl upon the face of Cybertron." Ratchet explains as he keeps his eyes trained on said vermin like it's about to steal his soul.

Jack and Miko looks at each other then at the thing in Raf's arms before relaxing and chuckling. "This?" Jack points towards the scraplet. "Are you kidding me?" "You giant robots!" Miko throws her arms up for emphasis. "Scrapy here is tiny." She puts her fingers together. "You don't know the damage that tiny thing could do!" Bulkhead says trying not to hyperventilate. Blade mutters 'So many' while cautiously looking around before looking over at me as started doing the same thing Cliffjumper is doing. "Aww, he wouldn't hurt anything." Raf said and as much as I love that kid, I just wanted to slap him upside the head.

Cliffjumper and I were just a few feet from each other when the Scraplet opened it's eyes and got a look at the 4 bots in front of it. All hell broke loose. With it's razor sharp teeth it charged the group of bots while dodging their blasters. I yelled in shock when I was suddenly grabbed by Cliff as he quickly backed away as to make sure neither of us got harmed while Windblade put himself in front of us with his blasters out. Just like the show poor Bumblebee was the one the scraplet got to first as it started munching away at his metal armor. I can't even imagine the sparkattack that the poor scout must be having as he started swiping the bug off. Finally he swiped it off of him and it flew across the room but before it could charge again Raf suddenly appeared beside it striking it with a crowbar aggressively until Jack grabbed it in mid swing.

"Whoa, easy there killer."

Poor kid took a few deep breaths before running towards his guardian who's getting checked by Ratchet. "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Miko Commented to Jack. "You doing alright Shadow?" I snapped my head up to see Cliffjumper looking at me concerned, Blade looking over his shoulder before looking around the room with his blasters still out. I was breathing hard as my body wouldn't stop shaking. "I- I will be, just trying to keep the rising anxiety down." He was about to say something else when I heard Bulkhead. "Now do you believe me, all Scraplets do it dismantle machinery and eat anything metal, especially living metal."

Cliff and Blade cautiously walked closer to the group now that the scraplet wasn't in here. "Well, bug squashed, game over. Right?" Jack questioned hopeful. Oh Jack, you about to get a very rude wake up call. "Oh I wish." I commented as a shiver went down my spine. Cliffjumper held me close to his chestplate where I can feel the heat through the metal plating which helped calm me a bit. "No. Whenever it comes to Scraplets, there's never just one. And I fear I know know just how they got in here." Ratchet said as he stood up and headed towards the hallway that's keeping the sphere from the Arctic. Bumblebee and Bulkhead following right behind him with their weapons out and the children close behind them. Windblade walked up beside us as we were in the back of the line. I glanced at Blade to see him still looking around like they gonna pop out of the walls.

"Hey Blade, how you holding up?" He snapped his helm to me before taking a deep intake. "Yeah just... remembering some things that I rather not remember." "Yeah I hear that, I must have had to come across them before for me to be feeling this much Deja Vu and anxiety. Feels like my heart is gonna burst through my chest and I'm trying not to hyperventilate. And yet I have no memories popping up about dealing with scraplets on Cybertron." I explained as I curl up further against Cliffjumpers chestplating, and I could have sworn I heard something click and a very soft humming, though it may had been my imagination.

"As much as I want you to get your memories back, I pray that you won't get one of them back. Trust me on that." Windblade said quietly and I notice Cliff glance at me In concern. I was half way wanting to know but considering that we were talking about scraplets here and the fact that my partner was saying that something extremely bad had happened that I would rather not remember.

After a couple minutes we made it to the room and I was glad that Cliffjumper was holding me cause there was water everywhere. Coming up to the sphere it would be hard to miss the giant chewed up hole where the swarm escaped from. "A scraplet trap." Ratchet said as he shown a light into the sphere. "Uhhh, an empty scraplet trap." Bulkhead corrected nervously as Bee nodded in agreement while hiding behind Ratchet. "Most likely ejected into space eons ago only to end up in the Artic where the temperature kept them in stasis." Ratchet concluded. "Until we brought to thaw." Jack realized. "Now their wide awake and ready for brunch." Miko piped in. "Sooo, how many are we talking about?" Raf asked nervously. "Thousands." Ratchet stated as he put up his flashlight away. "With power malfunction and ground bridge damage, are sure signs that their infestation is well underway."

We headed back into the command center to try and reach Optimus. "Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation." Nothing but static. "The scraplets have gotten into the com-link system. If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, then they will reduce the entire base to a scrapheap." Ratchet declares as he turned to us. "Well I say we bug outta here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead exclaimed with Bee voting with him. I shook my head. "That's not an option Bulk. If we don't get the ground bridge working to get Optimus and Arcee back then they will die out there." Jacks eyes widened in horror. "They will?" I nodded sadly as Miko stumped angrily towards Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you never run!"

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these devour a bot. I have. They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juice parts first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit till there's nothing left, and I mean nothing. Not even your optics." He explained to her before glancing over at me worried. I'm gonna take it that he knows what Blade knows. Closing my eyes I tried drowning out all noise except the sound of Cliff's sparkbeat. Shadow, run! Get out of here! I jumped at the sudden voice I heard in my head. It sounded familiar but couldn't place it. "Shadow?" I peeked at Windblade and his face softened. "Everything will be alright, nothing will happen to you or us." Nodding to him before realizing that the group is about to split up.

Guess this might be a good time to help out since I already know what needs to be done. Forcefully pulling myself from the comfort of Cliffs warm chestplating I stood up using his curled fingers as support. "Hey Ratch, we need to patch a possible leak in the Energon fuel line while you fix the panels and everything." He stares at me then looks between the hallway and ground bridge before facepalming. "Of course, why didn't I think of that?" "You actually did but it would had been after you fixed the things here." I smirked as he gaped in shock.

"So where's the fuel line, that way we can fix it." Jack asks as he lifted a fire extringisher from by the railing. "We also need a welder and scrap metal." I added. Ratchet told us where the Energon line would be while Bumblebee and Bulkhead took Raf and Miko on the other side of the room where the tools were. "Someone should stay here and guard Ratchet encase the Scraplets find their way in here. I can grab another fire extinguisher and stay with you Ratchet, Cliff and Blade will probably stay in here as well." The two looked between each other before nodding. "I ain't leavin Shadow's side." Cliffjumper said, Windblade agreeing. "And we won't let anything bad happen to Ratchet either." Blade walked over to the other platform before grabbing the extinguisher that was there. He handed it to me when he came back.

"Alright, everyone be careful. See ya'll in a few." I called out to the others as they headed for the hall. "We got this Shadow!" Bulkhead tried sounding positive as he disappeared out of sight. Ratchet got straight to work on the panels as Windblade went around the room watching for anything that shouldn't belong. "Hey Cliff, could you put me down?" I seemed to finally get some control over my body as my breathing is even and the shaking to just slightly. He looked torn between putting me down and keeping me in his hands. "Fine, but stay close to me." He ordered as he lowered his hand to the ground and I slid off. "Don't need to tell me twice." I snorted as I got closer to Ratchet while taking the pin out so I would be ready to use it when the time came. The doc bot glanced at me as he was pulling out different circuits and replacing them. I gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright." I told him as I patted his arm. "I will take your word for it Shadow." He said as he got back to work.

Windblade was still walking around the room as Cliffjumper stood beside me and Ratchet, both armed with blasters and both glancing back to make sure I was still here. It had been close to 30 minuets since the others went to find the leak. I have no idea how long until the scraplets find their way into this room, the show doesn't exactly give out the day by day and minuet by minuet schedules.

"There, that should do it for now. Now we just need to wait for the others to get back so we can activate the grou-" Ratchet started as he stood up only for the four of us to jump when a loud scream could be heard somewhere down the hall. "What- in the All Spark...?" Windblade started as him and Cliff stood in front of me and Ratchet pointing their weapons towards the hallway. "That- would be Bulkhead." I snickered as my two just stared at me in disbelieve. "No fragging way, he sounds like a femme!" Cliffjumper chuckled but never lowered his blasters. And that's when I heard it. The whirling and scraping of metal getting closer and closer until a loud crunching of metal was heard from above.

"Oh Frag!" I screamed as a few beams fell and Ratchet used his body to cover me to ensure that I didn't get his. It wasn't long before the three of them were spotted and were swarmed.

My heart felt like it was being rammed against my chest, watching as the three of them found themselves on the ground frantically swiping at the scraplets as if they were hungry mosquitoes. I ran between them trying to freeze as many of them as possible but it wasn't doing much of anything, 10 would freeze off only to have 20 more replace them.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I emptied the fire extinguisher and hearing their screams of pain and terror. Using the empty container I started wailing down on the pests in hopes that I could kill them that way, which works. Get out of here Shadow! Run! Run and don't look back! I grunted in pain as I held my head. Clenching my teeth, I fought through the splitting head ache as I tried getting as many scraplets as I could off of Windblade.

"Ratchet, get the patch kit! We're leaking Energon like- WHOA!" Bulkhead exclaims as him and the others come running around the corner to see all the scraplets flying around, and unfortunately for them, were also spotted. It wasn't long before they two were screaming on the ground as the kids found 4 more fire extinguishers and Jack handed me one as I immediately started spraying between Cliff and Blade while Jack took Ratchet and the other two got their guardians.

It felt like an eternity when in reality it must had been only 10-15 minuets before we got all the scraplets that were currently in the room.

Raf and Miko went and started beating the slag out of as many scraplets as they could find while Jack went around to see if there were any hidden scraplets. I slumped against Windblade as he leaned up against the stairs along with Cliffjumper. I has breathing heavy as I held my head.

"Shadow, what's wrong?" Blade asked worried as I felt his finger gently rub my arm. "My head, hurts. I keep hearing a voice. Telling me to run, and don't look back. I know- I know the voice but I can't remember who it belonged to." I whimpered as I tried to focus on anything but the pain I am currently feeling.

"Slag. Come here Shadow." I felt him nudge me and I didn't hesitate as I forced myself up and into Windblades hand. He brought me up to his chestplate so the sound of his spark could sooth me. "No matter what happens Shadow, it's gonna be alright." Blade grunted as he rubbed my back in comfort. But that isn't the only thing that is giving me comfort. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels as if it's a feeling deep inside me. The feeling of comfort washing over me felt warm and familiar, but I don't have a clue as to why. But at this moment I could care less, it felt nice and it was helping me get rid of the splitting headache.

Bulkhead helped Ratchet up so he could get the ground bridge ready. "Come on, online faster." Ratchet muttered desperately.

"Hey, couldn't we use the ground bridge to sent the scraplets anywhere on Earth?" Raf suddenly piped up. "Why not back to the Arctic? We already know that they don't do cold." Jack mentioned as he held up the fire extinguisher he had. "Sweet. One stop shopping." Miko grinned as she hit the crowbar on her hand looking ready to throw down on some more scraplets. "Given the body mass of the scraplets, subzero temperature should freeze them on contact." Ratchet slumps down against the ground bridge as it's rebooting. "So if we get- when we get the ground bridge open, we send the creepy crawlies out and bring our bots in." Bulkhead said as he slides down to the ground. "Arcee and Optimus will be fresh meat. If we bring them in first then the scraplets would have no reason to leave. We'll need bait." Ratchet realized. "Where are we going to get bait?! The scraplets already helped themselves to everything in here!" Bulkhead exclaimed as he stood up to look around for anything that could be used as bait.

At that moment the vents near the ceiling were shoved out of the wall as the last of the scraplets swarmed into the command center. Bulkhead threw himself down the moment they entered and I could see poor Bumblebee shaking like a leaf. I glanced up at Blade as I felt him starting to tremble as he held me closer to him. He gave me a small smile. "It's going to be alright Shadow." He tried and failed as he wanted to sound reassuring, but it's kinda hard when you're trembling and eyes filled with fear.

Crawling further up Windblade, I threw me arms around his neck, or as much as I could. I damn near jumped for joy when I heard the ground bridge controls start beeping, indicating that it is now operational.

"Ratchet, all systems go!" Jack yelled as he held the crowbar tighter. "Fire it up!" Miko exclaimed from her place by Bulkhead. Ratchet weakly forced himself up and grabbed a hold of the lever. "Ground bridge... activated." Ratchet collapsed from the pain and I glance back as the ground bridge lit up.

A sudden jerk had me nearly screaming as there was a loud crash beside us. Opening my eyes I saw that Windblade was partially over Bulkheads legs while I saw Cliffjumper half way on top of Blade as he had pushed the bot away fro the falling debris. "Primus that was a close one." Cliff commented as they moved off of the shocked wrecker. "Are you three okay?" He asked us as he helped us move without being spotted.

"Seen better days." I mustered a grin as I gave him a thumbs up. He nodded before glancing at the ground bridge. "Bait huh?" Bulk muttered to himself before he grunted as he started to stand up, gaining the attention of my partner. "Bulkhead, please tell me you are not about to do what I think you are about to do?" "It's the only option we got, we need to get them out." Bulkhead grunted as he stumbled in front of the open bridge before waving his arms around to gain the attention of the deadly creatures.

"Ready for the main course? Come and get it!" He exclaimed as he turned and hauled ass through the ground bridge with the scraplets hot on his aft. The rest of us laid as flat as we could as to not gain their attention, and just like that they were gone and three bots came stumbling back in. I released a breathe that I didn't realize that I was holding.

"See Shadow..." I turned to Windblade giving me a relieved smile. "I told you that it would be alright." I chuckled as I hugged him as much as I could. "Yes Blade, you did and you were right." I pulled away before motioning for him to let me down. The moment that my feet touched the ground I bound over to Cliffjumper who was watching me from his place on the ground. I placed my hand on top of his. "Thank you for protecting me. Both of y'all."

Windblade piped up from behind me. "You are my partner, as well as a little sister to me. Ain't nothing going to happen to you as long as I'm online." Cliffjumper moved his hand so his palm was facing up before gently closing it around my hand. "As long as Energon still flows threw my veins, ain't nothing taking you away from me." He promised as I felt my face heating up.

He opened his mouth to say something else when Arcee made her way to us. "By the All Spark, you two look horrible." She commented as she glanced at me concerned. "Shadow, are you alright?" I nodded as I took my hand back from Cliff's. "Yeah, I will be. A memory is trying to force it's way out but honestly I think I can live without knowing that particular part of my past." She looked as if she wanted to add something but decided against it.

"Come on, lets get you to the medbay, or at least closer to it." She says as she attempted to help the two mechs even though she don't have hardly any strength herself.

"So Cee?" "Hm?" I can hear the mischievous grin in Cliffjumpers voice. "So how was the Arctic exploration duty?" I chuckled as Arcee glares at her partner over her shoulder before grinning. "About as much fun as you had here." Laughing as the red bot opened and closed his mouth like a fish outta water. "Man, you asked for that one." I smirked as we came up to the medbay, Optimus and Ratchet pulling out a few berths.

Ratchet had Arcee, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper lay on the berths as Bulkhead sat near the medbay and Windblade on the other side leaning against the wall. Ratchet checked and patched up the more serious injuries before he brought out equipment that us humans would be able to use. Of course doc bot gave us step by step instructions on how to work the equipment and what all we needed to do. I took this as a learning opportunity as I worked between my guardian and partner.

"Report Bio-circuitry status." "Levels are rising." Jack reported with a thumbs up. "Excellent. Raphael, keep a close eye on Bumblebee's Electro pulse monitor. Miko check Bulkheads interface patch." "It's steady." Raf smiled. "Looking good!" Miko stated with a thumbs up. "Shadow, what's the status on Cliffjumper's and Windblade's Spark rate and energon levels." I brought up the spark rate first. "Spark rates are back to normal." Then I switched to the Energon levels. "And their Energon levels are almost to their normal level. Cliff is 92% and Blade is 94%." I reported as I also checked their Bio- circuitry and Electro pulse. All back to normal. "That's good to hear." Ratchet sounded relieved.

"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself old friend. You saved quite a few lifes today." Optimus urged Ratchet and I had to bite my tongue as to not pop off with 'rest is not apart of Ratchets vocabulary'.

"It wasn't all my doing." Ratchet told him. "We're just fortunate that this infestation happened on a Saturday." I smirked as I continued studying the screen, while also trying to ignore the two sets of optics watching me. "Our human friends may be small, but they are strong." Optimus praised. Yeahh, that is as long as the one needing to be strong doesn't have arachnophobia. And my point was proven when a shrill scream tore through the command center. Grimacing as my ears started to ring I looked up to see Jack and Raf armed with crowbars.

"Scraplet?" "SPIDER! Is it on me?!" The Asian girl flails as she runs down the hallway swatting at her back. "Uh, did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asks as he watches her disappear and I mentally cheered as I can finally pop off what I had always wanted to say the moment I first watched the episode.

"Well you see Bulkhead, that's because she is a little girl. But what's you're excuse?" I grinned while everyone laughed (well Optimus chuckled) at Bulks sheepish look.

The rest of the day was spent thawing out Arcee and Optimus and repairing all the bite trails that the scraplets left on the rest of the bots. Windblade and Bulkhead didn't complain from the pain and discomfort of being welded due to being used to it while Bumblebee whined as he hadn't gotten used to being welded. Cliffjumper seemed to keep flinching every so often as he isn't as used to it like Blade and Bulk but has had to deal with it a bit more than Bee.

"I swear to Primus, if you don't hold still I am going to weld you upside down on the wall." Ratchet threatened as Cliff squeaked in fear. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as I stepped up to him.

"Hey Cliff, when Ratchet finishes would you like to go up to the roof and just relax? Watch the sunset?" Grinning at my offer he seemed to sit still enough for Ratchet to finish. "That sounds good right about now." He replied.

It was about 10 minuets later before Cliff was free to leave the med-bay. I had already said goodnight to the kids and their guardians right before I came in here to keep my guardian company. "Don't strain yourself to where the welds come undone." Ratchet warned Cliffjumper as he just waved him off.

"Yeah I know, I don't want to go through that again." He said putting his hand down for me before standing and leaving behind a grumbling medic. We passed Optimus who has headed into the med-bay to probably help Ratchet weld what he can't reach. "Hey Optimus, how are you feeling?" I asked as he stopped beside us. "I am well now. Thank you for your concern." I smiled as we went our separate ways.

Cliffjumper went to the elevator and pushed the button to open the doors. "Been quite the eventful day hasn't it Shadow?" Huffing in amusement I glanced up with a smirk. "That's one way to put it. I remember seeing the scraplet episode but for some reason I was calm while watching it. Now I'm suddenly terrified and having a bad memory trying to force it's way up? It doesn't make sense. Why would it wait till now to trigger?" I wondered out loud.

That question has been swimming around my head since I found out that I am really Shadowstalker and it wasn't just a special character that just suddenly popped into my head out of the blue. "I'm not sure about that either. I wondered the same thing, same with the rest of us. But we have been doing good so far with unlocking your memories. Though I do have to agree with Windblade, I hope that one memory doesn't find it's way up."

I nodded as we stepped out of the elevator. Cliff walked near the edge before sitting with his legs hanging off the edge and lifting me up to his shoulder. I sat down with my hand automatically gripping a piece of metal on his neck so I don't lose my balance. Looking up with a smile at the mesmerizing view. The sky was painted in various shades of reds and oranges with clouds looking like heaven.

"Earth has the best sunrises and sunsets in my opinion." Cliffjumper commented as neither of us took our eyes from the sky until the reds and oranges turned to purples and dark blues. The stars started revealing themselves one by one.

"By any chance that memory does resurface, I will always be here to help you through it. I know you will more than likely go to Windblade since he was there, but I just want you to know I'm here for you as well." Turning away from the night sky to look at my guardian who's giving me a small encouraging smile. The emotions that I was feeling were overwhelming. I already came to the conclusion that I will likely regain that memory, to which I am not looking forward to, knowing that I will immediately run to Blade when it does happen. The fact that Cliffjumper is wanting to do whatever he can to help me through it means so much to me.

Shifting a bit towards him, I threw my arms as much around his neck as I could, which irritated me quite a bit that I can't give him a proper hug. Wait... There is a way.

Mentally facepalming I leaned back from the surprised mech. "Can you set me down please?" He nodded as he carefully got me from his shoulder and put me beside him. "Use your holoform." Stepping back at the confused autobot as he stood up away from the ledge before transforming. Walking towards the drivers side as Cliffs holoform stepped out, well barely stepped out before I threw myself on him. "Whoa!" He exclaimed as he stumbled backwards as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Thank you, you have no idea just how much that means to me." I mumbled into his chest.

Getting over his shock he wrapped his arms around me as he rested his chin on top of my head. We remained like that for awhile, just enjoying our embrace. Slag, I'm glad that he can't see my face because I am 99% sure that I'm blushing like crazy. Being this close to him makes my heart beat faster. Get it together Shadow! I mentally scolded myself.

Suddenly he pulls back much to my dismay. "Come here." He whispered as he took hold of my hand and pulled me to the front of his vehicle form before I yelped in surprise as he lifts me on top of the hood. He just smirks before hopping up next to me and scooting back till his back is against the windshield. Leaning back with one arm behind his head and the other out towards me with a handsome grin.

"Would you join me in watching the stars Shadow?" His eyes seemed to shine bright with the moon reflecting off them as I couldn't help but mirror his grin. "I would be happy to Cliff." Scooting back till Cliffjumper could reach me he pulled me down to his side as his arm drapped over me. I don't know why but being around Cliffjumper makes all my worries just melt away. And this moment is no different as I layed my head on his chest and allow the sounds of his 'heartbeat' and the way his thumb is lightly stroking my arm to just allow all the stress from the scraplets and trying to regain my memories just vanish.

It was at that moment that I allowed myself to imagine just what it would be like if I did let myself fall in love with Cliffjumper. The images brought a warm smile to my face as I unknowingly tightened my hold on my guardian which caused him to glance down at me. But what if he doesn't love you back. A voice spoke in the back of my mind making me mentally shake my head. No, just let me enjoy this moment and my daydreams.

Unbeknownst to us we were being watched.

Back in the base three bots stood in front of the large screen watching a certain two above the base.

"It's quite obvious on the fact that they like each other, more than just friends or even as guardian and charge." Ratchet commented as he watched them watching the sky from on top of Cliffjumpers vehicle form. "I too have noticed the two of them seeming attracted to each other." Optimus hummed as he watched the femme that he used to work with and had grown to care about. He truly wants her to have the happiness that the humanized femme deserved.

"But it's the fact that they have feelings for each other but won't admit it is what's driving me insane. Everyone here knows about the feelings they have, now if only we can get them to actually say it would be a fragging miracle." Windblade grunted as he crossed his arms and lightly glared at his partner.

Seriously Shadow, I don't remember you being this stubborn. Pit you used to always voice whatever was on your processor. What happened?" The Shadowhunter thought to himself as he wondered why his partner suddenly stopped voicing her opinion. Though the longer he stared at the two on the screen, the more that it seemed to click.

"That's it." Windblade said out loud gaining the medics and leaders attention. "What's it?" Ratchet question with a raised optic ridge. Windblade stepped closer. "I think I know why Shadowstalker hadn't said anything to Cliffjumper. It's probably because she is not currently Cybertronian. She might think that he won't return her feeling since they are no longer the same race." He explained as the two's optics widened in shock before turning back at the screen.

"Windblade, as much as it pains me, I believe that your conclusion to be quite plausible." The Prime's optics furrowed as he had thought of the same possibility. "But she is Cybertronian, she should be able to turn back into her former self. We just haven't figured out exactly how yet." Ratchet gritted his teeth in frustration. First he failed to fix Bumblebee's voice box and now he's failed to help the femme he viewed as his own.

"She believes that there may be a chance that she will remain human." Windblade looked down in anger. Anger that she has lost confidence in herself and the fact that there really could be a possibility that she will carry on her life as a human, therefore having the lifespan of one. The thought of her dying from old age in less than a hundred years made Windblades spark ache. He had just got her back and for her to life for such a short amount of time was unimaginable to him. It may seem like a long time to Shadow but it might as well be a blink of an eye for the rest of the bots.

"That is why we will do everything in our power to get Shadowstalker back to her former self." Optimus vowed with a hard determined look.

And there we have it! I am soooo so sorry but there have been so much happening the past few months that I haven't been able to work on my stories. I have been dealing with some medical issues that require surgery which is taking longer than expected due to me needing to get health insurance first, just got it tho and am now waiting on a call to set up a surgery date(UPDATE: it was June 27, I've healed up now).

I don't know when I will post the next chapter, especially when i'm also in the middle of writing a Fairy Tail fanfic(Fairy Tail is an amazing anime, I 10000000% recommend).

But until then-

Shadowstalker Out!