WARNING: Some sexual content appears at the start of this chapter.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

A Date Cut Short

Over in the state of California in the Sierra National Park just as the skies were turning dark and twinkling stars had appeared, Raphael and Monalisa had found a small hill overlooking the Forest and a good view of the mountains in the distance, and had laid out their picnic.

Arcee before she decided to scout, watched in fascination as her two charges laid out some sandwiches, fruit, and candies as well as a bottle of wine.

Raphael even lit a couple of large candles which he put in front of them even though it wasn't fully dark yet.

Monalisa smiled more as Raphael then played some romantic music on a docking station he had packed.

"You really have gone all out Raph." She said kissing his cheek making him blush.

"Anything for my beautiful lizard lady." Raphael purred giving his mate that smirk she loved so much.

"So this is what you'd call a date hmm?" Arcee asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Uh huh." Raphael said, "It's something Mona and I love to do when we can, yet not very often given how we have to stay hidden most of the time."

"Did you ever do anything like this back on Cybertron?" Monalisa asked to which Arcee looked confused.

"Come again?" she asked.

"Dating?" Monalisa clarified "You know, did you ever date any male bots?"

Arcee thought for a moment.

"I never really did anything like that since the War had already started when I came to be." Arcee mused but then shook her head "Anyway, that's a story for another time, you Love-Birds?" she asked as she thought of the human term for a loved-up couple "Enjoy your picnic, I'm gonna scout for energon." She chuckled and winked.

"Thanks Arcee!" Raphael said then opened the bottle of wine and poured a glass for his wife.

Arcee smiled at them one more time then walked down the hill to begin her scouting leaving the turtle and Lizard to enjoy each other's company.

Half an hour soon slipped by and Monalisa and Raphael had consumed half the bottle of wine as well as their sandwiches, and Monalisa was laying on her back looking up at Raphael who every so often fed her strawberries, chocolate or grapes whilst sneaking in a kiss.

Monalisa giggled as Raphael kissed her whilst having a piece of chocolate in his mouth and they passed it between each other as they kissed.

"I'm having a wonderful evening, Raph." Monalisa cooed as she stroked her mate's cheek.

"Me too babe." Raphael smiled back then started to get more passionate and he kissed down her neck and to the top of her breasts.
Monalisa then smirked before lowering the strap of her top and giving Raphael the invitation to get intimate.

Raphael didn't hesitate as he pulled down his mate's top and he nuzzled her breast before kissing and licking up before taking the nipple into his mouth.

Monalisa gasped as he did that and closed her eyes to enjoy the pleasure and Raphael went even further as he lowered his hand down to her crotch under her loincloth.

Meanwhile, Arcee scanned for energon whilst at the same time glanced over at Raphael and Monalisa.

As she looked over and saw Raphael and Monalisa get intimate she stopped scouting and stood next to a tree to watch for a bit, feeling rather curious at the way those earthlings touched and kissed each other and showed their love.

Of course she and her team mates had their ways of showing love back on Cybertron, but it seemed like a dream away, and she felt a hint of sadness as she thought of others who were scattered amongst the stars, friends, loved ones, some she knew had died during the War but then there were others she wasn't sure about and like Optimus, Ratchet and the others, she too hoped that some she knew well had escaped and we fighting their own battles against the Decepticons or keeping themselves hidden.

As she continued to watch Raphael and Monalisa she thought to herself that she would make sure they stayed safe and alive, not just for each other, but for their family and friends, and especially Pandora.

Arcee chuckled bitterly.

Since the death of her partner Cliffjumper not so long ago, she hadn't wanted to get too close to anyone in fear of losing them and feeling that same pain over again, but try as she might, she couldn't not admit that the Hamato Clan were rubbing off on her, especially Raphael and Monalisa.

Just as Arcee was about to leave to continue her mission a light appeared in the sky, and she looked up.

At first the Autobot Femme thought nothing of it thinking it was a shooting star, yet it seemed to be getting brighter and bigger.

Arcee narrowed her optics as she watched and looked back at Raphael and Monalisa on the hill still kissing the fondling each other.

At the same time, Monalisa had been moaning with pleasure opened her eyes and she too saw the bright light.

Like Arcee she thought it was a shooting star and was about to get Raphael's attention to make a wish when realised that it was getting bigger and brighter.

Feeling uneasy, Monalisa tapped Raphael's shoulder and her mate took his mouth away from her breast and looked at her.

"You alright babe?" the turtle asked then Monalisa pointed behind him and Raphael looked and saw the light was getting brighter and bigger.

"The Shell?" he asked in surprise.

"What's that?" Monalisa asked in worry.

"Meteor?" Raphael suggested then he covered his eyes, Monalisa did the same as the light got brighter, almost like the sun before whizzing over them and towards the forest area behind them.

"Raph! Mona!"

The couple looked up to see Arcee running over.

"What just happened?" Monalisa asked then gasped in shock as the light hit the forest and disappeared, yet no flames appeared like they would expect and all that was left was the smoking tail it left behind.

"That didn't look like a falling meteor." Raphael said standing up and Monalisa followed, pulling her top up and rearranged her loincloth and shorts.

"No." Monalisa agreed.

Arcee meanwhile frowned in suspicion.

"We should check it out." She suggested.

"You smelling something Arcee?" Raphael questioned as he studied the femme's look, it was almost like one Leonardo would give if he was curious about something not quite right, and as long as he had known his brother, he wasn't going to just let it go.

Arcee was giving off that very same vibe.

"Let's go and see." Arcee said as she transformed into her vehicle mode.

"What about the picnic stuff?" Monalisa asked as she blew out the candles and placed things back in the cooler.

"I think it'll be alright here." Raphael said, "There's no-one around for miles."

"Okay," Monalisa agreed as she placed the last of the food in the cooler and put the top back on the wine bottle before she and Raphael climbed onto Arcee's back before she drove off into the forest.

The couple were disappointed their date had been interrupted but they didn't want to let this incident go without assisting Arcee in investigating what had landed in the forest.

They hoped once they found out what it was, they could pick up where they left off, but there was the chance that wouldn't be the case.

After half an hour of driving through the woods, they soon arrived close to where the landing sight was. As Raphael and Monalisa dismounted, Arcee transformed and took out her scanner before walking ahead of them.

As they walked, a few mosquitoes flew around them and Raphael growled as they buzzed near his ears.

"Uugggh! I hate bugs!" he snarled as he tried to swipe some away.

"Quite the outdoors man aren't you Raph?" Arcee quipped in a playful tone.

Raphael cocked an eyebrow.

"It's not that I not an outdoors man, or turtle, I just hate bugs."

"Well, there are exceptions." Monalisa corrected looking at her mate "You know Heather, Hacker, and Percy and Louie, and they're mutant bugs and you don't hate them."

"True!" Raphael agreed "That's different though, they're humanoid bugs, these ones are just pests!" he clapped his paws together to try and grab one that flew in front of his face, but he missed.

Arcee laughed then her scanner bleeped catching her attention.

"That's odd." She said, "Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate, it's subterranean energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."

She walked on a little further, Raphael and Monalisa following close by.

Just then the scanner bleeped again, and they soon arrived at where the light in the sky had crashed, yet instead of a crater one would expect, they saw what looked like a long deep groove in the ground that had flattened many trees in its path showing it hadn't been a meteor.

"Crash landing!" Arcee said frowning harder "Stay behind me! Low and close!" she ordered before walking on ahead.

Raphael and Monalisa instantly got into their ninja mode and looked around listening for anything suspicious as they walked behind Arcee.

They followed the long grooves from behind the trees that hadn't been affected and they moved stealthily and quietly until they came to where the object had crashed.

At first the area was smokey and they couldn't see at first, but they're eyes widened, and they saw what it was.

It was a large metal airship with spikes and Raphael and Monalisa knew as soon as they saw it that it wasn't Earth-made and they remembered what Wheeljack's Ship looked like and this one was five times bigger.

"If I'm not wrong, that looks like a ship." Monalisa whispered "A Cybertronian one."

"I'd say it is!" Raphael agreed then looked at Arcee "Autobot or Decepticon?" he asked.

"Can't tell." Arcee replied "Wait here!" she ordered before standing up, transforming her right arm into a blaster, and walking over to the ship with caution.

Meanwhile Raphael and Monalisa watched her and stood close together, the both of them looking around as their senses were on full alert.

Even though they didn't know what was going on, something niggled at them that something was not right and they knew how to trust their instincts.

Raphael touched his sais ready to draw them and Monalisa slowly took out her fans.

"I don't like this Raph." Monalisa whispered to her mate.

"Me neither babe." Raphael said, "But we best stay here."

The couple continued to watch as Arcee approached then entered the ship before disappearing for a few minutes.

But suddenly the couple saw Arcee stumble out of the ship holding her stomach and she leaned on the wings of the crashed ship. She was unsteady on her feet and looked ready to collapse.

"Arcee!" Raphael cried in concern and leapt over the crevice in the Earth to go over to his Autobot friend.

Monalisa wasn't far behind as she looked up at Arcee and saw the look of pure trauma and sickness on her face.

"Oh my gosh!" she thought as she approached with her mate.

"Arcee!" she called up "What's wrong!"

"I know who this ship belongs to." Arcee said in a grave tone then stood up before activating her com-link.

"Arcee to Base!" she said, "I need a Ground-Bridge ASAP!"

"Wait! Wait!" Raphael said in surprise "Why?"

"Whose ship is this?" Monalisa asked, seeing Arcee's desperate look she guessed that this ship meant bad news and if it belonged to someone that even Arcee was fearful of, then that meant something very serious.

Arcee didn't answer him as she tried to contact the base yet got nothing back in response.

"Base! Do you read?" she asked only to receive static.

"Scrap! Com link is dead!" she snapped "The ship's got to be transmitting a high frequency scrambler pulse!" she started to stride away.

"Arcee!" Monalisa cried running after the femme.

"You're freaking us out here!" Raphael added.

But Arcee didn't give them any answers.

"Wait here!" she ordered then walked on ahead checking the ground as she saw what appeared to be tracks, and none of them appeared of a human nor wild animal.

Monalisa and Raphael continued to watch the femme then nodded at each other and took out their weapons.

This was something extremely dangerous and whatever or whoever it was, they needed to be ready to fight.

Raphael and Monalisa were enjoying a romantic evening until it got disrupted, and it seems that whatever or whoever is here has sparked some horrific memories for Arcee, and for those of you who have seen the show, there's no prizes for guessing who's arrived!