Strongarm wrapped her arms around Steeljaw pulling him into a hug, "Do you remember what's next week?"

Steeljaw thought for a moment, "Is it your birthday?" He guessed teasingly.

She chuckled, "You're such a tease. You know my birthday is still a couple of months away."

Steeljaw chuckled, "I know," he replied as he kissed her passionately, "Just like I know what next week is."

"What is it then?"

"Our anniversary," he purred as he slowly started kissing her neck, "And I can't wait."

"Got any plans for it?"

"I have a few ideas, you'll just have to wait and see," he replied.

"And just how much of it involves sex?"

"Getting impatient already, are we?" He teased.

She rises an optic ridge, "No, I just know you."

"Sex isn't all I think about, I love just spending time with you."

"Except when you're on your heat cycle," she giggled.

"True. And don't forget we'll have to watch Emberwing tomorrow. It's Thunderhoof and Metalsound's anniversary, I'm sure they'll want some alone time."

"I remember and no doubt they do. But we better keep a close watch on Nightback, we both saw what happened with their tails and we both know what it means."

"They're still so young, for all we know it could just be a phase. If it happens again we'll have to have a talk with him about it."

"Yes."

Nightback and Seajumper continued to race against each other, trying to see who was faster, "I'm gonna beat you!" Nightback told Seajumper."

Seajumper revved his engine trying to stay with the older boy, "Why did you wrap your tail around Emberwing's?"

"I honestly don't know, didn't even know I did it until you said something."

"Weird," Seajumper responded, "Sorry about earlier."

"You wasn't hurting me it was just mean laughing at Emberwing like that."

"You have to admit it was kind of funny. I didn't know she was going to turn into that... Whatever she turned into. But she does look cool though."

"Yeah, it was a bit funny, and that was unexpected. But yes, she looks really cool in that form."

"I wonder if she'll have antlers like Thunderhoof."

"I saw some sprouting so most likely."

"She's pretty big in her beast form. Do you think we could ride her as the humans do for horses?"

"I doubt it, but you never know."

"I dare you to try it."

"I dare you to."

"I double dog dare you."

"I triple dog dare you."

"I dare you infinity."

"I dare you super infinity."

Seajumper hesitated before he tried to think, "I dare you," he let out a growl in defeat. "You have to do it first because you're the oldest," he replied in a triumphant tone as he transformed back to his bot form.

Nightback transforms as well, "How is it that I must do it first because I'm the oldest?"

"Dad does it with Commander Ultra Magnus."

"Yeah, I know. Alright, but you're doing it right after me."

"Deal."

The boys were hiding behind one of the shelves while Emberwing was practicing her headbutts on her punching bag, "And you said you would never use my gift," Grimlock said to Thunderhoof with a smile as he watched Emberwing.

"When did I say that?"

"When Emberwing was born."

"Well, it turned out to be useful."

Emberwing took a few steps away from the punching bag, giving it her best glare. With a growl, she charged forward with her helm low. The boys watched as she headbutted the bag almost breaking it.

Nightback gulped, "You sure you want to try getting on her? There's no need to feel bad if you want to back out," he said to Seajumper, feeling scared of the femme now.

"I-I'm not so sure anymore," Seajumper replied starting to feel scared of the femme as well. "But, we had a deal," he said as he watched Emberwing, "Unless you're a chicken." Seajumper giggled as he started imitating a chicken.

"Hey, you're just as scared as I am!"

"Am not, I was just saying that to make you feel better. Unless you're breaking our deal, Mom always said that you should keep your promise."

"Don't bring both our mom's sayings into this!"

Seajumper just laughed as he started imitating a chicken again, "Look at me, I'm Nightback and I'm scared of a femme," he mimicked his friend's voice.

"Cut it out! I'm not scared!"

"Then prove it."

"I will, I'll jump on her back as soon as she transforms into her beast mode."

Just then Emberwing transformed as she started attacking the bag with her front paws. Thunderhoof chuckled as he watched his daughter, "Take it easy, you don't want your claws getting stuck," he warned the child.

Just then Nightback runs out and jumps on her back. With a startled bleat, she started jumping around like a horse trying to get him off. He grabbed a hold of her and held on as tight as he could. Emberwing threw herself upward trying to fling whoever was on her off. Seajumper watched from the safety behind the shelf, suddenly more afraid of the femme. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea," he whimpered.

Eventually, Nightback lost his grip and fell off. Emberwing was about to stomp on him, if not for Thunderhoof picking her up in time. "Emberwing calm down, it's okay. It was only Nightback," he soothed the frightened sparkling. "What were you thinking?" He scolded the small mech.

"I didn't want to but Seajumper dared me."

Thunderhoof looked at the shelf, seeing Seajumper peeking out from behind it. With a quiet yelp, he ducked back hoping Thunderhoof hadn't seen him, "Seajumper!?" He growled softly.

"Seajumper is not in, please leave a message," Seajumper replied.

"Get out here, now!"

Seajumper starts walking out slowly. Thunderhoof placed Emberwing on the ground next to Nightback, "Who's idea was it to jump on Ember's back?" He asked crossing his arms.

"Mine, sir," Seajumper replied sheepishly. With a sigh, Thunderhoof looked to his daughter, then to Nightback, the poor kid was shaking. Activating his comlink he contacted Wheeljack.

:: Yes? :: Wheeljack answered.

:: Your son has something to say. Could you come over here for a moment? ::

:: Sure thing, be there in a minute. ::

"Sorry," Emberwing said softly to Nightback, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. You said you jumped on me because of a dare?"

"Yeah, Seajumper dared me," he replied sheepishly.

"You do know I could have hurt you, right? I'm a lot bigger than you guys while I'm in my beast form. Why did you accept it anyway?"

"I know. I didn't want to seem like a chicken."

"Why would you be a chicken? For not jumping on me?"

"Yeah..."

"So? It just means you didn't want to hurt me, and it wasn't smart to jump me when I was attacking my punching bag," she bleated a giggle.

He starts blushing a bit, "No, I don't want to hurt you, and I know it was dangerous."

"Just don't accept a dare when you know something is dangerous, even if they call you a chicken."

"I won't next time."

"Good," Thunderhoof replied as Wheeljack walked over.

"Alright, what's the issue?"

"You want to tell him or should I?" Thunderhoof asked Seajumper who just stood there looking down at the ground. When Thunderhoof noticed that Seajumper wasn't gonna say anything he decided to tell him, "Seajumper dared Nightback to jump on Emberwing's back."

Wheeljack looked at his son, "Why would you dare him to do that?"

"Was wondering if we could ride on her as the humans do on horses," he mumbled.

"Why?"

"I just wanted to try it."

"You did promise you'd go after me," Nightback muttered.

"I did..."

"And he will, if Emberwing doesn't mind," Thunderhoof said with a small smile. The femme snorted.

Seajumper looks at him, "Really?"

"A promise is a promise," Wheeljack nodded.

"YAY!" He shouts with joy as he runs to jump on her back.

Emberwing had to resist the urge to buck him off right there, "If you don't get off me I will sit on your helm," she growled.

"Awe, come on, Emberwing."

"If he can stay on for eight seconds then you'll do nothing. If he falls off you can charge at him, or sit on his helm," Wheeljack responded.

A sly grin formed on the young Predacon's face, "Deal."

"Oh this will be eaSYYYYY," he says as the young femme starts bucking, "WHOA! WHOA!" Didn't take long and he fell off. Emberwing was a short distance away, her helm low as she pawed at the ground preparing to charge.

"You may want to run, Seajumper," Wheeljack chuckled as they all watched the femme.

Seajumper transformed and drove off as fast as he could. Emberwing let out a bleating roar as she chased after him.

"Should we stop her?" Nightback asked worried for Seajumper.

"Naw, he deserves it. He needs to learn."

Just then Steeljaw walks up to them, "What's going on?"

"Seajumper dared Nightback to jump on Ember's back and now she's chasing him because he couldn't stay on her for eight seconds," Wheeljack replied.

Steeljaw looks at his son, "Nightback, did you jump on Emberwing's back?"

"Yes, sir," Nightback replied with his ears pulled back.

"And what happened?"

"She threw me off."

"Did you learn your lesson from it all?"

"Don't take dares if it involves something dangerous, and don't let others call you a chicken."

"Who called you a chicken?"

"Seajumper."

"And he was the one cowering," Thunderhoof put in.

"Yes," Nightback said. Seajumper's scream could be heard from the other side of the scrapyard.

"I better go save him," Wheeljack chuckled as he left to find his son.

"Well, I think you had enough of a punishment," Steeljaw tells his son.

"I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again."

"It's Seajumper who should be sorry," Thunderhoof stated, "You sure you're okay?" He asked the young mech.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Good, I better go help Wheeljack," Thunderhoof said as he left to catch up with the Wrecker.

"Are you going to tell Mom?" Nightback asked looking up at his father.

"I'm debating."

Nightback looked to the ground, he felt like he had let his dad down. Not to mention he felt embarrassed for what had happened, he couldn't believe that Emberwing had managed to get him off of her so quickly.

"Are you alright, son?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About?"

"How did she get me off so quickly? I'm older and stronger than she is," he replied feeling jealous.

"She's probably stronger in her beast form."

"I guess."

"Don't underestimate a femme, trust me I know. I learned that the hard way."

"What do you mean?"

"I underestimated your mother big time and found out the hard way just how strong she really is."

"What did you do?"

"Well, um, your mom and I were enemies before we got together and I got into two fights with her, the first one I won and took her down but the second one she won and took me down. She had improved greatly in her strength and fighting skills since the first time, which I had not expected."

"Why were you enemies?"

"Well, I was a 'Con criminal and she was an Autobot cop, she was after me to lock me back up and I wanted to get rid of her and the others so I could stay free and follow through with the plans I had."

"What happened, did you change your mind?"

"She helped me change my mind when I fell in love with her. When I fell for her my plans suddenly changed as well as my outlook on everything."

"How did you know you love her?"

"After our last fight, I couldn't get her out of my processor. I kept thinking about her, I kept dreaming about her, and I got to the point where I had to see her as much as possible. I first thought it was ridiculous and that it was just a phase I would grow out of, but then I saw it wasn't and I fell in love with her more and more."

"What are you guys talking about?" Strongarm asked as she walked over to her son and mate.

"Just telling him how we were before we got together and how I knew I was in love with you."

Strongarm sent him a wave of love before picking up her son, "I think it's time for you to head to bed, it's getting late."

"Awe, Mom, but I'm not tired."

"You'll be glad for it in the morning. I had to help Metalsound and Thunderhoof calm Emberwing down, and I know what happened," she told her son, "Are you okay?"

"You do? Yeah, I'm fine."

"As long as you don't do it again. I don't want anything to happen to you." I need to talk with you later. She told Steeljaw through their bond as they walked back to their quarters, Nightback was already fast asleep. Tucking him in, Strongarm kissed his helm before she left his room closing the door behind her.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Steeljaw asked as they went to their bed and sat down, "Are you alright?"

"We found a set of tracks, Metalsound thinks there might be a small group of Decepticons roaming around. I don't want Nightback going outside of the base without someone to watch him," she told him feeling worried about their sparkling's safety.

"We'll both keep a close watch on him, and I'll be keeping a close watch on you as well," he says as he wraps his tail and arms around her nuzzling his face into hers. "Had too many close calls."

Strongarm giggled at the nuzzle, "You're right, I seem to be a magnet for those kinds of things," she replied as she hugged him.

"Yes, you do."

"I hope we can break that, I feel like I'm cursed."

"Well, nothing's happened in 5 years, so things are going pretty well so far."

"Now we just have the rest of our lives," she joked.

"And I'm gonna keep you safe through it all. I don't know what I'd do if anything was to happen to you."

"You'd have to look after our son," she told him as she leaned her helm onto his chest, listening to his spark pulse. "And I will do the same thing if anything happens to you. I don't want him to be alone like you were."

"As much as I love our son I wouldn't be able to live on without you."

"I really appreciate that you love me that much, but I really would like for you to live on for his sake."

"I'll try. But nothing will ever happen to you, I will be sure of that."

Strongarm planted a kiss on his lips, "We should get some sleep, we're going to have our hands full tomorrow."

"Yes, let's go to sleep then."

They both lay down and slip into recharge, still holding each other.