A few weeks go by. After my shift is over every day, Sunstreaker meets me by the cliff. One of the days, I caught Sideswipe smiling as he watched his twin race out of the hangar as I was leaving to my room. Things seem to be improving with their relationship. They are out and about more. Laughing and having a good time. It's a joy to watch. Sunstreaker has started doing training with just the Autobots. Well, the only ones who will deal with him. Which is only a few. Decepticon activity has been low. I have a feeling it will be picking up again soon. They never wait too long before they start something.

I'm getting ready for my shift when I hear a knock on my door. I quickly finish buttoning up my trousers before answering it. Making sure my skivvy shirt is tucked in. As I open it, I see a familiar man with messy auburn hair.

"Hi Sideswipe. What's up?" I ask, stepping aside to let him in.

"I know you have a day off coming up and..." He starts.

"How do you know that?" I interrupt, crossing my arms and lean back against my now closed door.

With a sheepish look, he runs a hand through his hair, making it even more messy, "I found out." Is all he says.

"How?" I press, my voice lowering into almost a growl.

"It doesn't matter. Either way, I know, and I was able to convince Jazz to let me and my brother off too. So, we can all finally hang out together." He speaks quickly so I can't interrupt.

"Are you feeling left out?" I ask, trying not to smile.

"Yes, I am. We never hung out before and now you're with my brother every day." He whines.

"Your jealous." I let myself smile, more smirking at him.

"I am not. I'm happy you two get along." He huffs looking away from me.

"If it makes you feel better, I never asked him to hang out with me. He just does. And you're the one who asked me to help him." I point out, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know I did. I just didn't think he would become so attached." He sighs.

"I will hang out with you guys on my day off, but in the evening I will need to leave." His eyes light up at my words and he looks at me again.

"Really?" He smiles brightly.

"Yes, but about an hour before sunset I must go." I say.

"That's fine. We are going to have so much fun." He jumps in place. A smile plastered on his beautiful face.

"I have to finish getting ready." I step away from the door and open it. Signaling that he needs to leave.

"Right or since I'm here, you could skip work." He bites his lip, throwing a wink my way.

"Goodbye, Sideswipe." I walk behind him and start pushing him out the door.

"Come on, Hart." He lets go of his weight and it all lands on me.

"No." I struggle to say, "How are you so heavy if you're not real?"

"I am real. Everything about me is real." He stands up straight and gestures to all of him, stopping just below his crotch.

"I will change my mind about hanging out with you and Sunstreaker if you don't leave right now." I threaten.

"Fine, I'm leaving. See you later." He winks again before vanishing into thin air.

"What am I going to do about him?" I wonder out loud do myself as I close the door.

I finished getting ready. My blouse slips over my shoulders easily. My fingers fiddle with the buttons. Once finished, I head out to the hanger. Most soldiers are heading the other way as I walk down. My group looks in better spirits now that we have grown accustomed to the change. There have been one or two soldiers who switched shifts with ones from the day. I am perfectly content with the night shift. No complaining here. Though, I do miss watching the sunsets. With my day off in a few days. That's exactly what I plan to do.

"Hart! Wait up!" I hear shouted from behind me.

I turn around and see Sunstreaker skating quickly to catch up to me. I can't help but smile as I wait for him.

"Hey Sunstreaker. What's up?" I ask as he skids to a stop in front of me.

"I was hoping to get to you before you left your room, so I could walk with you." He states.

I turn back around a start walking with him towards the hanger.

"You don't have to do that." I exclaim.

"I know." He pauses, "I want too."

"Aww." I coo, smiling up at him.

He grumbles something and looks away from me. If giant robots could blush, I'm sure he would be right now. We continue to the hangar I'm trying to hide my smile. Some of the few soldiers left make b-lines around us. I think it's funny how they are intimidated by him. They have never given me the time of day. Not that I'm close to any of them. But they don't make way for me when I walk in. I like it better that way. Unfortunately, with Sunstreaker taking a liking to me, I'm becoming more noticed. Soldiers seem to steer clear of me more than ever now. I miss being invisible.

We part ways in the middle of the hanger. Not a word is said. I head to my spot in the long line of computers. Sunstreaker heads to his spot against the wall. He leans back against it and crosses his arms. That familiar scowl taking place of the smile that was there. His optics watch over me, casually glancing around the hangar. I get to my station and sit down, starting my computer up. Others around me do the same. It isn't five minutes after that the alarms start to go off.

"Decepticon sighting." Is shouted over the intercom.

I whip around my chair just in time to see Sideswipe round the corner and stop next to his brother. They give each other a look and race over to the hangar opening. Prime is already standing and waiting for his troops. I turn back around, getting a visual up on my screen. Instead of being in the middle of a large city, it seems to be in the heart of an old small town. I don't see anything right way, but a familiar Saleen Mustang cruiser comes into view.

"Eyes on Decepticon Barricade." I yell out.

Lennox rushes over to me with a few others. "What's he doing?" He asks.

"He's driving down the street. He's in vehicle mode." I report.

"Any others?" He asks, leaning over my shoulder.

"I've got two more cons driving down the next street over." Calls out another on my squad.

"Keep a lock on their signals. Let us know if they transform. We are heading out." Lennox orders.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus calls out his battle cry.

I keep my eyes locked on the screen, barely listening to the orders being shouted and the turbos from the jets powering up. Barricade is slow to drive down the dead street. As he takes a corner, I switch views to follow him. I watch the Ospreys take off out of my peripheral vision. Back at the screen, Barricade meets with the other two Decepticons. They then transform and seem to be talking to each other. One looks around suspiciously.

"They transformed." I inform my platoon sergeant.

"Report." He calls back, jogging over to me.

"They look to be talking. Wait, one is moving towards a store. May be an antique store. It's hard to tell." I report.

I pause, watching closely. My platoon Sergeant now over my shoulder. He has a hand on my desk and the other on the back of my chair, leaning in closely. I'm afraid to blink, not that I need to, it's just habit as this point. I don't want to miss anything.

"Team Prime is 20 minutes out." A soldier shouts.

I don't look away from the screen. The cons are studying the stores display. Looking for something. They aren't known for being gentle or slow with anything. So, why are they taking their time with this one. Maybe they aren't sure what they are looking for.

"When team Prime arrives, I'd advise them to be cautious when coming up on the cons." I suggest.

"Why?" My platoon sergeant asks.

"The cons are being careful and that's unusual. If they grab what they want before our guys get there, it might be more dangerous." I explain.

I hear beeping from a comm link open being me and my sergeant stands up.

"Sir, watch your six, go in with extreme caution when you come up on the Decepticons. I'd drop a few clicks out and roll out." He says over the comm.

"Roger that. Anything in particular that we need to look out for?" Lennox asks, his voice coming in a bit fuzzy.

"Not sure yet. The cons are currently trying to break into what looks like an antique store. They still seem to be studying it. No action yet." Sargeant explains.

"Keep me posted. We will proceed with caution. Out." Lennox replies. The comm link beeps out.

"I need more eyes on our three cons." He shouts leaving my station.

Fingers type away, keys being clicked echo around the hanger. More eyes are watching the cons. Someone is able to confirm they are at an antique store. Then as I hear that the team as landed, one of the cons start cutting into the glass window.

"They are breaking in." More than a few of us shout.

"They are cutting out the window." I hear my Sargeant tell Lennox over the comm.

I continue to watch as the con finishes cutting through the glass. They grip the edges and carefully remove it from the window pane. Then surprisingly they set the glass carefully on the ground, leaning it against the wall. Barricade and one con slowly back away, while the third raises and arm. A beam shoots from his hand into the store. Then it stops abruptly, and the cons snap their heads in the same direction, looking at something off screen.

"Team Prime as arrived on scene. They split up and are covering both sides of the street." Someone calls out.

I pull up another screen and look at a broader view. The Autobots are coming on first. Weapons up. I see Optimus leading one side and Ironhide leading the other. I look back over at the close up view. Barricade says something that makes the Autobots freeze in their tracks. Optimus lowers his weapon. He's the only one, but the others do power theirs down. Whatever the cons are trying to get must be dangerous if it got the Autobots to stand down.

"Optimus ordered the soldiers to stay back." My Sergeant let us know.

I wish I could hear what they are saying. It looks as if Barricade is trying to convince Optimus to let him leave with it. In the background I notice the twins becoming antsy. Sideswipe keeps rolling back and forth. While Sunstreaker has a hand on his hip, clearly annoyed. My eyes snap back to Optimus as he raises his weapon again. The other Autobots follow in suit. Ironhide takes a step forward. One of the cons does not like it and rushes forward. Barricade turns around. I can't see his face to know if he says something.

The con barrels into Ironhide, knocking him over. They start to grapple with each other. Weapons are aimed on them, but no one is shooting. They probably don't want to hit Ironhide. Bots start moving around. It looks as if Optimus is trying to keep his troops in line, but the cons are not making it easy. Barricade is now covering the store front. In the midst of the chaos, I see him turn around and go into the building. Walls coming down around him.

"Barricade is going into the building." I and some other shout.

"Barricade went into the building. I repeat, Barricade went into the building." Sergeant says over the comm.

I watch as Sideswipe rushes towards the storefront. Slicing a con in half as he does. Optimus runs over as well, but Sideswipe is quicker. Sideswipe follows the path of Barricade. I can't see anything else. My view is blocked by broken walls, and it goes out of view of the camera. I attempt to find another angle, but they all have distorted views.

"I can't get a clear view on what's happening in the store." I shout.

"Me either." Others ring out.

"Keep trying! King, Donald and Cap keep an eye on the actual fight." Sergeant orders.

The only thing I can think of doing is hack into another store's security camera. Maybe there is a store across the street that hasn't been destroyed yet. I start looking into security cameras in the area. While keeping one up, watching the fight. I open a new screen. I work some magic and after a few minutes, I'm looking directly at the antique store. Well, what's left of it.

"I got a better visual. Not perfect, but I can see Sideswipe and Barricade." I shout, not looking away from the screen.

Sergeant jogs back over to me and is back over my shoulder. We stare at the screen as Sideswipe and Barricade seem to argue. There is something in between them. Both are gripping tightly to the item. Neither of us can figure out what it is. The two Cybertronians are attempting to be careful as they quarrel. Optimus is kneeling off to the side, looking in. Probably telling them to be careful or telling Barricade to let go. I wish these damn cameras had sound.

I look to the other camera view. The other cons are down and the rest of the Autobots have backed away. Ironhide and Ratchet are holding back an extremely angry looking Sunstreaker. He is struggling hard against their grip. I'm worried they won't be able to keep him back much longer. I can see Ratchet squeezing his servo tightly to Sunstreaker arm, so hard I can see him denting his armor. Ironhide is gritting his dentas so hard, they may shatter like glass. I scan back over to the view of the store. Just in time to see Sideswipe and Barricade racing out of the building. Nothing in either of their hands.

"They are retreating from the store. Rather quickly." I note.

"Sideswipe and Barricade are leaving the building. Autobots are retreating." Sergeant talks into the com.

"We are..." Lennox starts but goes silent and an explosion goes off on the screen.

"Please tell me they all made it out of there." I say out loud.

My screen has gone black. So has everyone else's screen. We have no eyes on what is happening. We start to struggle to get any type of communication. Comms are down, nothing is working. Unless the Autobots make contact with us, we have no idea. We are completely in the dark.